Glasgow's most beloved introverts have never been particularly interested in playing by industry rules, and *Late Developers* is proof that 30 years in, that instinct still pays off. Stuart Murdoch and company built their reputation on intimate bedroom confessionals, but this companion piece to *A Bit of Previous* finds the band stretching into sunlit pop territory that recalls their loose, exploratory mid-2000s work on albums like *The Life Pursuit*. Recorded in the same sessions as A Bit of Previous, Late Developers doesn’t feel like a collection of lesser-than songs that weren’t good enough to go on the “real” record. Rather, it’s an embrace of the freedom that comes with a jumbo-sized canvas, skilled students left unsupervised to paint whatever picture they feel like. Late Developers takes you on a journey as the band floats through genres with ease – from the frantic Billy Bragg-with-hella-flute-energy of the opening track and what I think might be Stevie Jackson’s best song, into a legit all-out radio-ready dance party in the third quarter of the record which includes a Belle & Sebastian first, a co-write with young pop composer Pete Ferguson. They then unearth a 1994-era pre-Belle and Sebastian tune, with the help of Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell right before they bring you home at the end with a true bop. Tracklist 1. Juliet Naked (3:22) 2. Give A Little Time (3:23) 3. When We Were Very Young (3:52) 4. Will I Tell You A Secret? (2:15) 5. So In The Moment (3:23) 6. The Evening Star (4:25) 7. When You're Not With Me (4:42) 8. I Don't Know What You See In Me (3:39) 9. Do You Follow? (4:19) 10. When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall (4:21) 11. Late Developers (4:20) UPC: 191401189620Label: Matador RecordsRelease Date: 1.13.23Format: CD
