With a blaring harmonica, a hard-slapping beat, and a lyrical reference to “an array of douchebags lining up to play their stupid parts,” Belle And Sebastian have returned. In May, the Glasgow indie-pop legends will release A Bit Of Previous, their first proper full-length album in seven years. Stuart Murdoch says it’s the first B&S album fully recorded in the band’s hometown since 2000’s Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant, though originally the band planned to record in Los Angeles before the pandemic altered their plans.

There are four separate covers for the new album, all of them viewable above. Like Silverbacks’ recent Archive Material, the title is super confusing and implies the record will be some kind of compilation, but no, A Bit Of Previous comprises 12 brand new original Belle And Sebastian songs. The first one they’re sharing with the public is “Unnecessary Drama,” which arrives today with a music video.

“This is my life/ This is my so-called life,” goes the jaunty chant-along chorus. “This is my life/ This is my only life.” Murdoch’s description implies the lyrics are related to our collective pandemic experience: “The song is about a young person experimenting in being a human again after a forced hiatus. The person is weighing up whether or not it’s worth the mess! Still, you dip your toe in and it becomes delicious, and you get too much of it. Between trouble and nothing, we still choose the trouble.”

Watch the “Unnecessary Drama” video below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Young And Stupid”
02 “If They’re Shooting At You”
03 “Talk To Me Talk To Me”
04 “Reclaim The Night”
05 “Do It For Your Country”
06 “Prophets On Hold”
07 “Unnecessary Drama”
08 “Come On Home”
09 “A World Without You”
10 “Deathbed Of My Dreams”
11 “Sea Of Sorrow”
12 “Working Boy In New York City”

A Bit Of Previous is out 5/6 on Matador.