Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit [FLAC]

6 Feb 2006 Belle & Sebastian 49:21 Rough Trade FLAC (Level 8)
Tracks:
01 - Act Of The Apostle
02 - Another Sunny Day
03 - White Collar Boy
04 - The Blues Are Still Blue
05 - Dress Up In You
06 - Sukie In The Graveyard
07 - We Are The Sleepyheads
08 - Song For Sunshine
09 - Funny Little Frog
10 - To Be Myself Completely
11 - Act Of The Apostle II
12 - For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea
13 - Mornington Crescent
The Life Pursuit is an album by Belle & Sebastian. It was released in Europe on February 6, 2006 by Rough Trade Records and in North America on February 7, 2006 by Matador Records.
The album has proved to be the band's most successful to date in terms of chart position, reaching #8 in the UK Album Chart and #65 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
"Funny Little Frog" was released as the first single in January 2006; "The Blues Are Still Blue" was released as the second single in April 2006; "White Collar Boy" was released as the third single in June 2006.
"We Are the Sleepyheads" also appeared in MTV2 commercials.
The album debuted at #65 at the Billboard 200 (U.S.), selling 20,485 units on the first week.
The kilt-, dirk-, and sporran-clad cover models are Alex Klobouk, Natasha Noramly and Marisa Pritivera.
Proving that the comeback of 2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress was no fluke, Belle & Sebastian's sixth full-length album, The Life Pursuit, is a sleek, stylish affair that finds the group quietly pursuing new ground without forsaking its trademark witty, literary, tuneful pop. In retrospect, Dear Catastrophe Waitress wasn't so much a comeback as a restart, finding Stuart Murdoch reasserting himself as the group's undisputed leader in the wake of the departure of Stuart David and Isobel Campbell, but equally as important was the presence of superstar producer Trevor Horn, who didn't gloss up B&S as much as gave them focus and direction, along with a greater musical palette. The Life Pursuit is the logical next step forward, retaining Murdoch's signature wry vignettes but dressing them in new sonic colors. Although their collaboration with Horn started Belle & Sebastian on this path, he has been replaced with producer Tony Hoffer, best known for his work on Beck's Guero, Air's 10,000 Hz Legend, and Supergrass' Life on Other Planets. On each of those records, Hoffer was able to retain the artist's core identity while expanding their musical horizons, and that's the case with The Life Pursuit. Here, Belle & Sebastian dabble in glam rock, lazy lounge jazz, and ersatz blues, enhancing their swinging '60s pop fixation with horn charts, the occasional flute, and Motown rhythms, while even rocking harder than ever before (but that's on a relative scale, of course). This results in a fresh, lively listen, but a rich one too, since there's more to hear in the music as well as the words upon repeated listens. It's not a radical departure for Belle & Sebastian -- there are several intimate, folky numbers that would comfortably fit on their previous records. But having these tunes surrounded by songs that successfully stretch the group's sound gives The Life Pursuit an unexpected, wholly welcome vitality that not only produces a satisfying album, but suggests that a decade removed from their masterwork, If You're Feeling Sinister, Belle & Sebastian have managed to find a way to grow without changing their identity.