Stuart Murdoch just released his first novel. Called Nobody’s Empire, it’s inspired by the Belle & Sebastian singer’s own experiences. In the novel, a young, Scottish man develops chronic fatigue syndrome, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), which changes his life and brings him together with a new group of friends and leads him on a path towards songwriting.

Nobody’s Empire is a beautifully written story about finding your people under difficult circumstances. It’s also filled with vivid details about the music and fashion of late 1980s and early 1990s indie/alternative subcultures. Recently, I was able to meet up with Murdoch on Zoom for an interview that is now out in the Books section of Southern California News Group papers. (Here’s a gift link to read the story.) You can catch Murdoch at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre for his L.A. stop on the book tour. 

I’ve been a Belle & Sebastian fan for a long time, so I wanted to list my favorite songs from the band here as well. Keep reading to see the picks. 

10. “I Don’t Know What You See In Me”

Late Developers, the most recent album from Belle and Sebastian, is a gem of an album, one of my favorite releases of 2023. The album’s standout track is “I Don’t Know What You See In Me” is actually a collaboration with songwriter/producer Peter Ferguson, aka Wuh Oh.The production is very big, like an ‘80s pop song, which is sort of antithetical to Belle & Sebastian, but it also works shockingly well. It’s an unexpected turn, and a fun one at that.

9.  “Prophets on Hold”

Honestly, Belle and Sebastian’s last two albums are amongst their best. They released A Bit of Previous in 2022 and “Prophets on Hold” is the album’s gently funky jam. 

8. “Belle & Sebastian”

The song “Belle & Sebastian” is one of the earliest from the band Belle & Sebastian. It’s on the “Dog on Wheels” single. What I love about this song, and specifically how it’s recorded, it’s not perfect, as in there are notes that sound not-quite-right. But, the song is also about a character who is far from perfect, so, conceptually, this makes perfect sense. 

7.  “You Made Me Forget My Dreams”

From the “Lazy Line Painter Jane” single, “You Made Me Forget My Dreams” is a raw, minimal song with dark af lyrics. Fairly early in the song, there’s a description of the dream that references a rocket. At the end, after the line “I think I better make a movie,” the song essentially fades out with rocket-like synth sounds. I appreciate that level of attention to detail. 

6.  “The State I’m In”

“The State I’m In” is one of the first songs that turned me on to Belle & Sebastian. The opening line, “I was surprised/I was happy for a day in 1975” points to the kind of misery you might hear in a Smiths song. Yes, once I was happy, but it was only for a day and even I wasn’t expecting it. From there, the song unfolds into a soap opera. The narrator’s brother comes out at his sister’s wedding, then the narrator marries a girl to keep her from being deported and confesses his sins to a priest who releases them in a novel. I feel like I’m watching General Hospital when I’m listening to this. 

5. “The Boy With the Arab Strap”

At the end of the ‘90s and into the early ‘00s, “The Boy with the Arab Strap” was one the big indie club jam from Belle & Sebastian. It’s all about the handclaps. I can still remember being packed into the dance floor for this at Cafe Bleu with everyone dressed like the ‘90s version of the ‘60s, clapping along and probably looking like we were extras on the kind of dance party TV shows that our parents’ watched. 

4. “The Party Line”

Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is fantastic and “The Party Line” is the song that lives up to the album’s title. Belle & Sebastian fuse together a few different styles of dance music in here. There’s some disco going on, a little ‘00s electronic and a ‘60s soul stomp. On paper, this shouldn’t work, but it does. 

3. “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying”

There was one semester in college when my roommate played If You’re Feeling Sinister on repeat and I got hooked on “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying.” Stuart Murdoch’s delivery of the title line resonated with me so deeply that, to this day, when I’m eager to get out of a situation, “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying,” pops into my head. 

2. “Legal Man”

In 2000, when Bang! Opened and I started DJing there, “The Boy with the Arab Strap” was the big Belle & Sebastian. Then “Legal Man” came out. I think we started playing this one as soon as we could get our hands on the single and it was immediately a hit at the club. It’s a super groovy, ‘60s-style psychedelic jam with backing vocals in the vein of girl groups. I still love it and still drop it in sets here and there, more often at bars or when I’m DJing alongside live bands. 

1. “Lazy Line Painter Jane”

“Lazy Line Painter Jane” is 100% always and forever my favorite Belle & Sebastian song. There’s really no competition. It’s a beautiful duet with a bit of a Walker Brothers vibe going on in it. It took a while for this song to make it to the U.S., from what I recall. I wasn’t able to get a copy until the Lazy Line Painter Jane box set came out in 2000 and I couldn’t get enough of it. Every once in a while, I’ll play this in a DJ set, usually as the last song, but mostly I just blast it at home. Still. 

Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram for more updates.

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