''Late Developers'' is the twelfth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the Scottish

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

, released on 13 January 2023 by

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

Background

On 5 January 2023, the Scottish group posted a 10-second clip on their official website and social accounts, as an announcement teaser. A few days later, on 9 January 2023, Belle and Sebastian announced their new studio album ''Late Developers'', along with the first single "I Don't Know What You See in Me". The official

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the single was released on 11 January 2023.

Critical reception

''Late Developers'' was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 79, based on 15 reviews. At '' Clash'', writer Robin Murray described the album as a "fine piece of pop whimsy, delivered with self-deprecating panache."

Track listing

Personnel

Belle and Sebastian * Stuart Murdoch – performance, costume design, photography *

Stevie Jackson Stephen Thomas Jackson (born 16 January 1969) is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian. Career Jackson's early musical influences include Madness, ABBA, OMD, ...

– performance * Sarah Martin – performance, props *

Chris Geddes Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

– performance *

Richard Colburn Richard Colburn (born 25 July 1970) is a Scottish musician and the drummer of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian. Before he joined Belle & Sebastian, he used to sell pies on match days outside Celtic Park and studied Music Business at Sto ...

– performance *

Bobby Kildea Robert Michael "Bob" Kildea is a musician from Northern Ireland. He plays bass and guitar in the Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, after joining in 2001 to replace departing bassist Stuart David, and had previously been in V-Twin. In D ...

– performance * David McGowan – performance (all tracks), brass arrangements (track 6) Additional musicians * Ryan Quigley – trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

(all tracks), brass arrangements (1–5, 7–11) * Paul Towndrow –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

* Michael Owers – trombone,

bass trombone The bass trombone (, ) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and u ...

* Leon McCrary – backing vocals, vocal and choir arrangement * Charles Henderson-McCrary – backing vocals, vocal and choir arrangement * Anjolee Williams – backing vocals * Olivia Walker – backing vocals * Patience Henderson-McCrary – backing vocals * Sarah Wilson – cello (4) *

Brian McNeill Brian McNeill (born 6 April 1950, Falkirk, Scotland) is a Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and musical director. He was a founding member of Battlefield Band which combined traditional Celtic melodies and new m ...

– keyboard

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

(8) * Pete Ferguson – vocals, keyboards (8) * Kevin Burleigh – percussion (9) *

Tracyanne Campbell Tracyanne Campbell (born 18 May 1974) is a Scottish singer and musician who is the lead vocalist of the Glasgow-based indie pop band Camera Obscura. Born in Glasgow, Campbell founded Camera Obscura alongside John Henderson and Gavin Dunbar in 199 ...

– vocals (10) Technical * Kevin Burleigh – mixing (tracks 1, ),

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(1, 9) *

– mixing, engineering (2–6, 9–11) * Matt Wiggins – mixing, engineering (7) * Kyle Startup – mixing (8) * Frank Arkwright – mastering * Pete Ferguson – engineering (8) *

Tony Doogan Tony Doogan is a Scottish record producer who runs Castle of Doom Studios in Glasgow. He is perhaps best known for his work with Mogwai and Belle & Sebastian. He has also worked with numerous other artists, including The Mountain Goats, Teenage F ...

– engineering (9) Visuals * Emma Durnan – sleeve design * Hristian Valev – cover model * Marisa Privitera Murdoch – photography assistance

Charts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Late Developers 2023 albums Belle and Sebastian albums Matador Records albums