
Jeepster
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
Regular price £23.00 Save £-23.00Product Description
-
The
Boy
with
an
Arab
Strap
twinkles
innocently
with
all
the
charm
of
a
wind-up
music
box
-
but
only
if
you
don’t
listen
to
the
lyrics
(or
look
up
what
an
arab
strap
is).
The
dichotomy
between
Stewart
Murdoch’s
tender
adolescent
vocals,
the
sweet,
sincere
instrumentation,
and
often
lude
lyrics
make
Belle
and
Sebastian
so
alluring.
A
vivid
portrait
of
the
internal
and
external
contradiction
of
growing
up.
To
the
world,
you
are
still
a
child
but
inside
you
are
shaken
up
bottle
of
carbonated
hormones
ready
to
explode.
For
the
first
time,
Murdoch
shares
the
songwriting
credits
and
vocal
duties
with
band
members
Isobell
Campbell,
Stevie
Jackson
and
Stuart
David
and
the
album
is
much
richer
because
of
it.
Maudlin
cellos,
sparkling
xylophones,
ecclesiastical
organs
and
a
touch
of
bagpipe
decorate
the
album.
It
is
gorgeously
ornate
and
antique,
you
can
almost
smell
the
mahogany.
The
Boy
With
The
Arab
is
like
a
storybook.
Moral
tales
and
grim
vignettes
told
through
the
eyes
of
a
wide-eyed
child
not
ready
for
the
big
bad
world.
Hogarth
might
have
written
them
if
he
had
listened
to
more
of
The
Vaselines
growing
up.
Sometimes
Presperterian
in
its
judgement,
and
much
like
Hogarth,
it
is
wonderfully
detailed,
hilarious,
aesthetically
enthralling
and
human.
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