Josh’s Top 5 albums of 2009: #2 God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl/Stills

Here we are, folks…anyone who knows my musical tastes my have noticed that a good number of my favorite bands hail from Scotland. I have no idea why this is so but it’s absolutely the case. The top two is no exception, although the decision on how to rank them was a no-brainer. This is not so much an indication how I feel about album #2, it’s just that album #1 in our grand countdown quickly hit my all time top 10 in short order. With that said, let’s get on with things…

Josh’s Top 5 albums of 2009: #2 God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl/Stills



Back a mere year or two ago, I remember reading that Stuart Murdoch, songwriter/band leader of Belle & Sebastian, was putting together something outside of the B&S banner centered around a nationwide hunt for female vocalists. I was intrigued. Not that this would be a total first, former band member Isobel Campbell as well as current member Sarah Martin, have lent their vocals to past songs. However, this was much more than bringing in a few female vocalists.

It turned out that Stuart had, over the course of a few years, organically written this story centered around a few female characters and when it came to look at bringing these songs to light decided that they fell outside of what the band normally does. So the search went out, and he found quite the set of singers (all previously, relatively, unknown) and work was started. What was crafted went beyond a mere set of songs, but a complete musical story. So much so that this project went from being “musical story” to soundtrack to an upcoming film (to be shot in 2010) that Murdock wrote a screenplay for.

As for the songs, the majority of them are sung by Catherine Ireton, who turns in an almost “star in the making” set and is THE revelation of the album. She plays the part of the main character, Eve, and it’s through her eyes that the story takes place. Other voices are strewn throughout but everything revolves around Eve. My only initial concern was that there were two songs from the last B&S album (Act of the Apostle and Funny Little Frog) that were both re-worked and I wasn’t sure how they would fit. Good news is that Act is arranged in a way that it becomes the prologue of the album and eases things in. Frog, stuck right in middle, feels a taaad odd just because it’s one of the few not sung by Ireton although by then it’s kind of good to have that change of pace. I think I changed my mind halfway through that sentence how I felt. Musically the proceedings wander from girl group, to slightly 80’s, doo-wop, very B&S, jazzy, but always very vocal centered, with good reason. Personal highlights for me include the title track, Hiding Neath My Umbrella, Musician, Please Take Heed, A Down and Dusky Blonde, as well as the Stills (more in that in a moment) tune The Psychiatrist Is In.

Oh and before we get to the vids, I found it odd that they then released a 5 song EP, Stills just a few months after the album when all of the songs from both can easily fit on one disc. *hmmmmmmm* The cynic in me wonders if this wasn’t a plot to get us “completists” to shell out a few more dollars for extra songs. I hope not. Although I’m not really a cynical fellow so there’s that. Anyway, in addition to the few clips I’ve included, check out the GHTG youtube channel for a fun four part set on the album if you’re so inclined. Enjoy the music. Here you go.


“We Play a Show” Documentary Part 1



“We Play a Show” Documentary Part 2



God Help The Girl