Belle & Sebastian - Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (2000)

This was the first Belle & Sebastian album I ever listened to. Usually the first album you listen to from a band maintains a special place in your mind. For quite a long time I thought this was the best album by Belle & Sebastian, but now I do have to admit that If You're Feeling Sinister and Boy With the Arab Strap are better than this one. It doesn't, however, mean that there would be anything wrong with this one either. It has some of my favourite songs from the band such as I Fought In a War, The Model and There's Too Much Love. This fourth album was a bit of a change from the earlier albums. The overall sound is still quite similar, but the lo-fi expression has been mostly replaced by more polished finish and there are more band members in addition to Stuart Murdoch singing the lead vocals in different songs. Specifically, Isobel Campbell's vocals are noteworthy.
I really do like the fact that Belle & Sebastian have kept to the similar style in their album covers throughout their career. If you place all of their albums next to each other, you get a really nice collection of colourful covers. This cover features two women who both are previous members of the Icelandic band Múm. I have this album on a CD, because I didn't have a record player yet when I bought it. Later I've really enjoyed the Belle & Sebastian albums I've bought on vinyl. they look great.

The album starts with one of my favourite songs, I Fought In a War. The melancholic melody and the way the song grows are fantastic. I also really like Murdoch's voice and the guitars in this one. The Model starts with excellent harpsichord intro, which then gives way to rolling piano, which reminds me of the music in Peanuts films. This also has some of the funniest lyrics from the band. Beyond the Sunrise sounds very different from the first two songs and the reason is most likely that Stevie Jackson sings the lead vocals with surprisingly low voice, which is very different from the other band members endearing vocal sounds. Waiting for the Moon to Rise has a nice flute in the intro. Sarah Martin's vocals are very smooth. This is also one of the best songs on the album. Don't Leave the Light on, Baby goes back to basics with Murdoch back in lead vocals. The Rhodes organs sound brilliant. The Wrong Girl sounds like a sneak peak into even later Belle & Sebastian albums. There's something about the fuller band sound that makes me think of this. The Chalet Lines has a brilliant melancholic melody. If I remember correctly, I didn't particularly care for this song when I first heard the album, but it has grown on me and now I actually think it's one of the best ones. Nice Day for a Sulk, despite of the title, is actually quite cheery tune. I guess it's a good illustration of the kind of joy I get from sad music. Sometimes it's great to wallow in sadness. It can make you feel better after you've allowed yourself to be sad for a bit. Women's Realm has a fast tempo and quite a cheery tune. These kinds of songs really make me happy. It sounds a lot like the band's following album Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Family Tree is a mostly acoustic song that features beautiful soft vocals by Isobel Campbell. The album ends with the song There's Too Much Love, which has an amazing melody that makes you want to sing and move along.

The music video for The Wrong Girl shows a story of a boy who is born at the end of the 60s in Glasgow. He grows up to become a huge Bob Dylan fan, dressing like him in the cover of Blonde on Blonde. He has problems with girls who get tired of his fandom. In the end, his father tells him not to worry and buys him a guitar. I guess this is the age-old story about how playing music makes you popular, but it also tells about music as a healing power, when you can put your grievances in love life into songs.

I saw Belle & Sebastian live at Tavastia, a legendary music club in Helsinki some time in the 00s. It was a fantastic show, one of the best live shows I've seen. The only downside of the show was that it was during a proper heat wave and the club was really hot. I remember squeezing my t-shirt dry after the show and producing quite a pool of sweat on to the pavement outside.

Belle & Sebastian has had a fantastic career. I think they've been very successful in keeping true to where they came from while at the same time renewing themselves enough to keep things interesting. I do like their earlier albums a lot more, but there's still nothing wrong with the later, more heavily produced style either. Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant is a kind of a bridge between the wuss-pop of the early years and more crafted indie pop of the later years.

Listen to the album on Spotify.