The saddest kid in the room wants to dance! Belle & Sebastian have spent nineteen years as one of the most sensitive bands out there. Finally it's time for Stuart Murdoch and co. to have some fun. Their witty remarks and literary aspirations are still there but the sound is now decidedly more pop. The band teamed up with outside producer Ben H. Allen III (Animal Collective, Washed Out) to punch up their sound and while working on the album he encouraged them to take more chances. The collaboration led to quite a striking album, some fo the tracks you might even have the chance of hearing in the club. Take "The Party Line," a grooving dance funk number with quite a hook. Or the albums pinnacle, "Enter Sylvia Plath," sounding something like a Abba and Moroder collaboration only quite a bit smarter. There are still soft spoken songs, piano pieces that languidly float by. And they prove to still be able to channel the signature Belle & Sebastian sound through all of the new tropes. Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance is sure to please longtime fans and win the Scottish indie rockers a whole new cast of admirers.

• music label: Matador 2015

reviewed by Hank Ohs 01/0215