The very byword for British indiepop, Belle and Sebastian remain at the top of their game after nearly 30 years of charming songwriting. As they head out on a UK and Ireland tour from 2 July, frontman Stuart Murdoch will be answering your questions – post them in the comments below.
From inauspicious beginnings in Glasgow – their debut album Tigermilk was assisted by a Scottish welfare programme for unemployed musicians – to Brit awards, cruise-ship festivals and the Hollywood Bowl, Belle and Sebastian have brought a fair amount of razzle-dazzle to music that is often (rather inaccurately) thought of as meek and retiring: “sad bastard music”, as Jack Black’s character in High Fidelity had it.
Tigermilk was full of strident moments, and follow-up If You’re Feeling Sinister refined their jaunty chamber pop into one of the best-regarded albums of the 1990s. Their fanbase buoyed them to a best newcomer Brit award, beating numerous more fancied pop artists of the time, and into the charts – 60s pop pastiche Legal Man became the first of three Top 20 singles, followed by the sweet natured indie disco confections I’m a Cuckoo and Funny Little Frog.
That fanbase has rightly endured for a catalogue that has reached 12 studio albums, full of Murdoch’s poignant character studies and everyday fantasias. Their latest album Late Developers was praised in the Observer for its “lightness of touch and genuine pop nous” and hailed as a return to form, and they’ve followed it up with a new single with actor and musician Suki Waterhouse, Every Day’s a Lesson in Humility.
Ahead of their July tour spanning 16 cities around the UK and Ireland, Murdoch will answer your questions on anything in this remarkable career – post them in the comments below by 10am on Friday. His answers will be published in the 30 June edition of the Guardian’s Film & Music section, and online.
