I've listened a few times now to the second part of the Belle and Sebastian "How to Solve Our Human Problems" EPs, a three-part issue. It's an interesting way to publish what would normally be a standard LP and I notice that you can pre-order all 3 EPs as a set if you prefer to look at this as a sort of triple album.
This is the Belle and Sebastian I know and love. Their last album "Girls In Peacetime" was very disappointing, a complete damp squib and I was a little worried that they had run out of steam but the full 2 year gap between that release and these EPs sees them re-energised and sounding great. It's a 5-track affair with them opening very brightly with 'Show Me The Sun'; as rocky and upbeat a B&S song as they've ever done. Next up 'The Same Star' is classic B&S: radio-friendly, charming, slightly melancholy in a smiley way and a very catchy chorus. But then we get to "I'll Be Your Pilot", without doubt the stand-out track on the EP. It's glorious, timeless, quintessentially B&S and a sure cert for any 'Best Of' album. I challenge anyone to listen to this just once and not to get it stuck in your head as an ear-worm. Cornflakes sees them in jangly guitar territory and sounding suspiciously like an old Orange Juice tune. The last track 'A Plague on Other Boys' is by far the weakest and deserves to sit at the end but even that works well as a counter-point and warm down after the previous 4 tracks.
One thing you can never level at B&S is cynicism in their music. There is always something quite uplifting and hopeful about their outlook and this EP will restore your faith in mankind, even just a little. There are good people in this world. Belle and Sebastian are proof of this.
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