Album: God Help The Girl
Artist: God Help The Girl
Label: Matador Records/4AD Records
Release date: 22nd June 2009
Listen to the album in Spotify
Stuart Murdoch is one of the quiet heroes of Scottish music. In 1996, he founded Belle & Sebastian, and it’s been all up from there. For the last five years, however, he’s been quietly working on a new collaborative project: a concept album (and accompanying film) under the name God Help The Girl. The soundtrack album is out now, and it’s a deeply surprising listen.
It’s not hard to discern Murdoch’s influence right off the bat. There’s an innately intimate quality to the songwriting that places it squarely in the Belle & Sebastian chronology (two of the songs – “Funny Little Frog” and “Act of the Apostle” – were lifted directly from 2006′s The Life Pursuit).
The album is curated by an impressive mix of musical veterans and wonderful new talent. There are cameo performances from Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy), and Asya (Smoosh), but the real jewel in the crown is the pair of previously-unknown singers; Catherine Ireton and Brittany Stallings. Ireton, who provides lead vocals on almost all of the tracks, has one of pop’s most soulful voices, and it’s criminal that she’s remained hidden this long. Stallings is equally capable, but is only given one real chance to shine, on the reworking of “Funny Little Frog”.
God Help The Girl is supremely easy listening, equal measures orchestral pop and bluesy soul. It has a slight tendency to wander into the land of the twee, but that doesn’t detract from a unique collaboration between some incredibly skilled musicians. It won’t change your life, but it feels just perfect for the long, hot summer ahead of us.
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