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Mar 02, 2022 By Mark Redfern Photography by Hollie Fernando

Scotland’s Belle and Sebastian have announced a new album, A Bit of Previous, and shared its first single, “Unnecessary Drama,” via a video for it. They have also announced some new tour dates that include shows in America, the UK, and Europe. A Bit of Previous is due out May 6 via Matador and has four different album covers. Check out the “Unnecessary Drama” video below, followed by a composite of the four album covers, the album’s tracklist, and the band’s upcoming tour dates.

Frontman Stuart Murdoch had this to say about “Unnecessary Drama” in a press release: “The song is about a young person experimenting in being a human again after a forced hiatus. The person is weighing up whether or not it’s worth the mess! Still, you dip your toe in and it becomes delicious, and you get too much of it. Between trouble and nothing, we still choose the trouble.”

A Bit of Previous was recorded in the band’s hometown of Glasgow after plans to record in Los Angeles in the spring of 2020 were scrapped due to the pandemic. The band self-produced the album, recording it themselves. The album features contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh, and Shawn Everett.

“We did it together, us and the city,” says Murdoch in the press release. “This record was the first ‘full’ LP recording for B&S in Glasgow since Fold Your Hands Child, 1999. We clocked in every morning, we played our songs, we wrote together, we tried new things, we took the proverbial lump of clay, and we threw it every day.”

A Bit of Previous is the band’s first proper full-length album in seven years. But in that time they have released EPs (plus an album that collected all the EPs), a soundtrack, and a live album. Their last regular album was 2015’s Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. In late 2017 and early 2018 Belle and Sebastian released three interconnected EPs via Matador, all titled How to Solve Your Human Problems. How to Solve Your Human Problems Part 1 came out in December 2017, Part 2 came out in January 2018, and Part 3 came out in February 2018. Then all three EPs were collected in a vinyl box set and CD compilation that also came out in February 2018. In 2019 they released the soundtrack for the indie film Days of the Bagnold Summer. In 2020 they released the live album, What to Look for in Summer.

Read our interview with Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch on How to Solve Your Human Problems.

Read our review of How to Solve Your Human Problems.

Read our interview with Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch on Days of the Bagnold Summer.

A Bit of Previous Tracklist:

1. Young and Stupid
2. If They’re Shooting At You
3. Talk to Me Talk to Me
4. Reclaim the Night
5. Do It For Your Country
6. Prophets on Hold
7. Unnecessary Drama
8. Come on Home
9. A World Without You
10. Deathbed of My Dreams
11. Sea of Sorrow
12. Working Boy In New York City

Belle and Sebastian Tour Dates:

2022 Tour Dates:

May-24: Rabbit Rabbit, Asheville *
May-25: TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park, Indianapolis *
May-26: The Riviera Theatre, Chicago *
May-27: Palace Theatre, Minneapolis *
May-28: The Admiral, Omaha *
May-31: Paramount Theatre, Seattle +
Jun-1: Roseland Theater, Portland +
Jun-3: Greek Theatre, Berkeley %
Jun-4: Greek Theatre, LA %
Jun-5: Pappy and Harriet’s, Pioneertown +
Jun-7: The Van Buren, Phoenix +
Jun-8: The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Company +
Jun-10: The Criterion, Oklahoma City +
Jun-11: Stubb’s Waller Creek, Austin #
Jun-13: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville #
Jun-14: Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh ^
Jun-15: Wolf Trap, Vienna ^
Jun-16: SummerStage, Central Park, NY #
Jun-17: Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia #
Jun-18: Roadrunner, Boston #
Jul-15 Bristol, UK Lloyds Amphitheatre, Bristol Harbourside
Jul-16 Stirling, UK Cardross Estate, Doune The Rabbit Hole
Nov-13 Cardiff, UK Great Hall - Student’s Union
Nov-14 London, UK The Roundhouse
Nov-15 London, UK The Roundhouse
Nov -17 Sheffield, UK O2 Academy Sheffield
Nov-18 Liverpool, UK Olympia
Nov -19 Hull, UK Asylum, Hull University Union
Nov-21 Aberdeen, UK Beach Ballroom
Nov-23 Edinburgh, UK Usher Hall
Nov-24 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK O2 City Hall, Newcastle
Nov-25 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy
Nov-27 Cambridge, UK Corn Exchange
Nov-28 Birmingham, UK O2 Academy Birmingham
Nov-29 Southampton, UK O2 Guildhall Southampton
Nov-30 Brighton, UK Brighton Dome

* with Divino Niño
+ with Thee Sacred Souls
% with Tennis and Thee Sacred Souls
# with Los Bitchos
+ with Japanese Breakfast and Los Bitchos

2023 Tour Dates:

Jan-10 France, Paris, Casino de Paris
Jan-11 Holland, Utrecht, Tivoli Grote Zaal
Jan-14 Germany, Hamburg, Laeiszhalle
Jan-16 Sweden, Gothenburg Tradgarn
Jan-17 Sweden, Stockholm Filadelfia
Jan-18 Norway, Oslo Sentrum Scene
Jan-19 Denmark, Copenhagen Vega
Jan-21 Germany, Berlin Tempodrom
Jan-22 Germany, Munich Muffathalle
Jan-23 Switzerland, Zurich X-tra Limmathaus
Jan-25 France, Clermont-Ferrand, Co-op de Mai
Jan-26 Italy, Milan Fabrique

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