Belle & Sebastian have issued a statement to nme.com, explaining why they are not planning to perform any live shows or release any more new material this year.
nme.com revealed on July 12 that the band have decided to take the rest of the year off – a decision which has puzzled many, considering they originally intended to play a UK tour in June to support the release of their new album ‘Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant’.
Now, in their defence, the band have issued a statement, which reads: “After a year in the studio recording ‘Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant’, the band are taking a break for a few months. The members have always had plenty of interests outside of B&S, both musical and otherwise, and will no doubt be spending some time on those.”
However, Belle & Sebastian have not ruled out playing live again in the future. They continue: “They (the band) will get back together some time later and start rehearsing. Given that there have only been two B&S concerts since 1998, this may take some time.
“Hopefully any fans who are waiting for a tour will be patient, and understand that the band will take as long as they need to make sure any gigs are the best they possibly can be.”
The statement also confirms B&S‘s intention not to release any more records this year, and reiterates that album track ‘The Wrong Girl’ was never meant to be a single – even though a video was made for it. The statement concludes: “The practice of making a video for album tracks was one the band started in 1998 when they made a video for ‘Dirty Dream #2’.”
Even though the band have done little in the way of publicity, Belle & Sebastian are currently more popular than ever. ‘Fold Your Hands, Child…’ entered the Top 10 when it was released on June 5, and their single ‘Legal Man’ entered the singles chart at number 15 on its release in May.