God Help the Girl

‘God Help The Girl’ is a story set to music, which Stuart Murdoch has been working on intermittently for the last five years, its origin in some songs that were written while Belle and Sebastian were touring ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ in 2004. Stuart explains:

“I was out for a run and I got this tune in my head and it occurred to me that it wasn’t a Belle & Sebastian song. I could hear female voices and strings, I could hear the whole thing, but I just couldn’t envisage myself singing it with the group.”

As more songs emerged, a shape and theme began to develop, before the music was actually recorded, or the vocalists found to take on the parts.

“All the time I was touring with Belle and Sebastian, I was putting aside songs for certain characters,” he says, “and at one point I realised, that it would make sense to string them together to form the backbone of a musical narrative.”

The hunt was then on to find some great new voices to put to use during the recordings. A competition where singers could add their vocals to the demo recordings of ‘Funny Little Frog’ and ‘The Psychiatrist Is In’ was posted on the iMeem social networking site and attracted around 400 entries. From these, Brittany Stallings (Olympia, Washington) and Dina Bankole (Jackson, Michigan) came to Glasgow in February 2008 to rehearse and record some parts, Brittany making the lead vocal part on ‘Funny Little Frog’ her own.

Among those who auditioned early in the process was Catherine Ireton (above), who had moved from Limerick to Glasgow, a friend of a friend, who had previously appeared on the sleeve of Belle and Sebastian’s last single, ‘The White Collar Boy.’ She took on the lead vocals for the majority of the songs on the record.

The recording continued during 2008, with a total of nine different singers (including Neil Hannon from the Divine Comedy and Asya from American teen trio, Smoosh) joining the members of Belle and Sebastian over the course of a few months. During this, Mick Cooke’s orchestral arrangements were recorded in London with the orchestra before the finishing touches were applied in Glasgow.

The result is a breathtaking record from one of pop’s most singular voices, combining the strengths and feel of the early Belle and Sebastian records in a broader musical palette, which draws equally on musicals, sixties’ girl groups, eighties’ indie and, most of all, classic pop records. And, in Catherine, Stuart has found a rare talent - her clear, lilting vocals bringing to life the characters in Stuart’s imagination and making for an ambitious and engrossing musical journey

Tracklisting / Vocalist
01.Act of the Apostle - Catherine Ireton

02.God Help The Girl - Catherine

03.Pretty Eve In The Tub - Stuart, Catherine

04.A Unified Theory - Instrumental

05.Hiding Neath My Umbrella - Catherine, Stuart

06.Funny Little Frog - Brittany Stallings

07.If You Could Speak - Catherine, Anna Miles

08.Musician Please Take Heed - Catherine

09.Perfection as a Hipster - Neil Hannon, Catherine

10.Come Monday Night - Catherine

11.Music Room Window - instrumental

12.I Just Want His Jeans - Asya

13.Iʼll Have To Dance With Cassie - Catherine

14.A Down and Dusky Blonde - Dina Bankole, Catherine, Celia Garcia, Brittany, Asya

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/l_9d245b7408e0419db2831225f99d80e5.jpg

song posted here

http://godhelpthegirl.com/

http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/12642-come-monday-morning/

I once got kicked out of a Belle & Sebastian concert.

i'd be happy to be kicked out of anywhere playing this after reading all that up there

irony being i'll probably like it

those 2 tracks available are too simple and obvious twee stuff.annoying,in short.

Funny Little Frog is a bit bland and pointless. The Psychiatrist Is In and Perfection as a Hipster are both great. It's cool to hear his songs sung by, dare I say, proper singers. That's all I've heard so far but I'm wanting to check out the rest.

I like this a lot.

i didn't know a thing about this until today.

d/l now and excited to hear.

i think i'd like it better if stuart had sung all of the songs. i am not much for the new girl's/girls voice/s.

this really isn't that good, a lot of these songs were way better on the original albums.

still trying to understand how these are not belle & sebastian songs.

this is a pretty excellent album

this is a pretty excellent album.

i like the girl voices, and i think it is (sort of) not just b&s by another name. even in its sort of skeletal form you can grasp the outlines of what he's trying to do, narrative-wise. i don't know if him making an actual movie of this is a good idea, but what the hell. at least the songs will be good.

(pretty sure i like it better than the life pursuit, altho i haven't listened to that in a while so i'm not positive.)

TLP is dreadful, but I am quite fond of God Help The Girl. Maybe it is time for Stuart Murdoch to start letting other people sing his songs.

Man, did this thing just totally come and go with no fanfare or what? Downloading now...

it's great! one of my faves of the year. but i guess that doesn't count as fanfare.

the new ep has leaked as well. it's ok.

Not really fanfare-worthy, but I'd be interested to hear LJ's viewpoint, while he's BS raving over yonder.

This really is a very good album. I heard it by mistake, not knowing at first who it was, which probably helped. Surprised that this thread is so short.

actually listened to this this morning -- still not entirely convinced. A few really good tracks and then some that I don't like at all. Kind of a weird cognitive dissonance hearing B&S melodies/songs sung by professional-sounding singers.

Elle Fanning cast in the movie.

how's her scottish brogue?

she's playing an american supporting character apparently