Belle & Sebastian Fold Your Hands Child LP VINYL 2009

A cheerful pluck at the heartstrings, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant--Belle And Sebastian's fourth studio album--finds Scotland's finest twee-pop ensemble in playful mood. While previous album The Boy With The Arab Strap was characterised by hushed operatic drama, Fold Your Hands Child... skips and romps like an unruly infant--a far less focused piece, but endearing nonetheless. Stuart Murdoch is, as ever, the heart and soul of Belle & Sebastian, and it's his contributions that really shine--the sprightly "Woman's Realm" effortlessly taking centre stage. On "Beyond The Sunrise", Stevie Jackson hasn't quite grown into his Leonard Cohen baritone, and on "Family Tree", Isobel Campbell's lyrics are cloyingly twee: "I'm stuck in a cage / With a bottle of rage / And a family like the Mafia." But forgive them their follies--on Fold Your Hands Child..., these shy indie waifs make music that speaks volumes. And that's enough