Reviews
Ranked #26 in Nme's "Top 50 Albums of the Year"., 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...The band that's too twee to be twue have released the same album you've heard and loved/hatedcounlodn;t give a toss about...three times already. For the faithful, there's a handful of goodies to be lapped up...", 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Precious....proving nobody out there minces as well as this band....embellishing on the coyly lavish arrangements of '98s THE BOY WITH THE ARAB STRAP without forgetting to flex real heart muscles....Nick Drake would have loved this band.", "...A Set Which Finds B&S more '60s-Obsessed than Ever. Given Time, Fans Will Warm to Peasant...", 8 out of 10 - "...The record plays with the stereotype of B&S as wibbling fey-fop lollipops....upholstered with overdubs, strings, and, quite literally, bells and whistles, like a Colonial Williamsburg take on circa-'68 lite-pop...", "...They quietly ease into adulthood with both soul and restraint, trading in wistful teenage nostalgia for a progressively refined...sense of longing and sadness...", "...Lavishly produced, the disc trades melodic inventiveness for orchestral bells and whistles...yet there are plenty of sublime moments..." - Rating: B, 8 out of 10 - "...A superb record. Quintessentially Belle & Sebastian. Frustrating. Contrary. Insubstantial. Yet...still peerless, still irresistible.", "...It glides along with humid grace....trading confusion for confidence....wonderful, sweeping songs.", 5 out of 5 - "...Chock-full of the sort of timeless pop moments for which B&S have become famous, but this time with a more expansive palette....It's their most mature, satisfying album yet..."
