Belle & Sebastian are gearing up to cross the pond for a North American tour next week, and just ahead of that they’ve shared new song “What Happened to You, Son.” Frontman Stuart Murdoch says it was pulled “rather randomly” from last year’s Late Developers “because the LP felt one track too long.”
“The song is about my youth, and the funny hole I fell into in my late teens,” Murdoch says of the song. “I was failing at my university course, failing in almost everything I tried around then. I was obsessed with the music of the time, I used to hang so much on the lyrics and message and feeling of certain bands of the ’80s era – it probably wasn’t healthy. So although the theme of this song is a little accusatory, the fault is with the beholder. I could have switched off at any time. Instead I let the singers become my penpals and my deities.”
Murdoch continues: “The song tries to address what happens when the pop stars grow up, and change, and go a different way, and seem to betray the stance they held when you loved them the most. The song finishes hopefully, however. There’s always a way forward, always a light to guide you if you look closely, if you give up part of yourself, if you let yourself flow and change.” Listen below.
Belle & Sebastian’s tour hits NYC at Brooklyn Paramount on May 1 with The Weather Station opening.
The band have also announced the 2024 edition of their two-day Glasgow Weekender festival, which happens August 2 & 3 and features Camera Obscura, The Vaselines, BIS, CMAT and more. Check out the full lineup below.
BELLE & SEBASTIAN – 2024 TOUR DATES
Apr 23 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern #
Apr 24 – Richmond, VA @ The National #
Apr 26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer %
Apr 27 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre %
Apr 28 – Montreal, QC @ M Telus %
Apr 29 – Toronto, ON @ History %
May 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount %
May 2 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem %
May 3 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre %
May 4 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed %
May 6 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe #
May 7 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom #
May 8 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue #
May 10 – Denver, CO @ The Fillmore Auditorium %
May 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
May 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
May 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
May 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel #
May 16 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater %
May 18 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
May 19 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre %
May 25 – Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas Festival
May 27 – Merignac, FR @ Le Krakatoa
May 28 – Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel
June 7 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
June 8 – Hamburg, DE @ ELBJAZZ 2024
June 9 – Koln, DE @ Gloria-Theater
June 11 – Feyzin, FR @ L’Epicerie Moderne Feyzin
June 12 – Nimes, FR @ Paloma – Grande Salle
June 13 – Donostia, ES @ Kursaal
June 29 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
June 30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Amsterdam Bostheater
July 2 – Stockholm, SE @ Cirkus
August 2 – Glasgow, UK @ The Glasgow Weekender
August 3 – Glasgow, UK @ The Glasgow Weekender
# w/ Haley Heynderickx
% The Weather Station
GLASGOW WEEKENDER 2024
FRIDAY 2ND AUGUST:
BELLE & SEBASTIAN
CAMERA OBSCURA
THE JOY HOTEL
WALT DISCO
MARY IN THE JUNKYARD
BUTCHER BOY
THE TENEMENTALS
KIDDY DISCO DJ SUZY LEE KIDD
SATURDAY 3RD AUGUST:
BELLE & SEBASTIAN
CMAT
THE VASELINES
CALLUM EASTER
BIS
MONICA QUEEN
DRUG STORE ROMEOS
THE PARSONAGE
KIDDY DISCO DJ SUZY LEE KIDD