Belle & Sebastian lead singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch has been up to quite the little project the last few years, and it’s finally starting to see the light of day. “God Help The Girl” is the soundtrack for a musical film of the same name due out on June 23 in the US. While B&S were touring in 2004 he came up with the beginnings of the songs featured on this album, and knew they weren’t meant for his current band. So he held open auditions on imeem for some singers, and spent last year recording with the winners of those auditions – two Americans called Brittany Stallings and Dina Bankole – as well as some other special guests. The result is a lovely album that reminds you of Belle & Sebastian and their 60′s pop style, especially the earlier albums. Eventually the film will also be shot, though there aren’t a lot of details about that just yet. He did a great job picking the vocalists too, I just love Catherine Ireton’s voice on the first single, “Come Monday Night”, which you can watch the amusing video for below.
Murdoch is also writing an interesting music blog series for the Guardian; you can start with the first entry here.
God Help The Girl comes out this Tuesday the 23rd on Matador. The label is currently streaming the LP for your enjoyment here.
