The Third Eye Centre
Scottish indie darlings Belle And Sebastian have never been ones to throw away a song. They may take their fair time between albums, but along the way they pack their singles and EPs with some quality moments. The Third Eye Centre collects the rarities and non-albums tracks of the band from the past decade.
The Third Eye Centre also documents the time when Belle And Sebastian gave up the mantle of the kings of twee in favour of a more polished and shiny approach to their hummable pop delicacies. (I Believe In) Travellin’ Light has been a tune often trotted out live and is given the loving treatment in the studio. Jaunty The Life Pursuit was unlucky not to make an appearance on an album, the up tempo Suicide Girl is worthy of a higher billing and the timid Heaven In The Afternoon shows an outfit with plenty of hidden gems.
The only previously unreleased morsel here is Your Cover’s Blown (Miaoux Miaoux Mix) which makes every effort to turn the relatively standard pop number into a Saturday Night Fevered disco romp. It doesn’t play to the band’s strengths necessarily, although it is enough of a point of difference to be a worthwhile curio.
It would be unrealistic to expect The Third Eye Centre to reach the remarkably lofty heights of the early seminal Belle And Sebastian EPs, but there is still a sizeable amount of gold spread throughout to make this worthy of much attention.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
