Belle and Sebastian Know What They Did Last Summer

Assembled from an assortment of stops on their 2019 tour, Belle and Sebastian’s double live album What to Look for in Summer, comes out Dec. 11 on Matador Records.

Five tracks on the album were taken from their “Boaty Weekender” cruise that took place in August 2019. The other 18 recordings are culled from shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Montreal, Barcelona and the band’s hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. Videos of two songs have been released thus far: “My Wandering Days are Over” and “The Boy with the Arab Strap.”

“Touring the band is something that I never thought we’d do,” admits bandleader Stuart Murdoch – and anyone who suffered through any of their uninspired early gigs might well have encouraged them to stick to the studio. But they’ve improved by leaps and bounds as a live act over the years, to the point where their performances are quite boisterous and celebratory. “It’s turned into the thrill of a lifetime,” Murdoch continues. “It’s just the nicest experience that I think I’ve had in my life.”

Photo by Will Byington.