In 2003, Belle and Sebastian released their LP Dear Catastrophe Waitress, entering into a new era of self confidence. It contains the perfect mixture of consistency , whilst simultaneously daring to cautiously reach out in new directions. This exploration in sound received general success at the time, now two decades later Maya Betts takes a deeper look at the legacy left behind.
Twenty years after its release, Belle and Sebastian’s sixth studio album took over a week of my life. Dear Catastrophe Waitress has attitude, heart and the same sincerity that keeps their tunes on the right
side of sickly saccharine sweet. It certainly feels like their happiest album to date, but still covers
consistently dark themes, interspersed with the delicately poetic lyricism that the band is known for.
It received generally positive reviews at its release in 2003 but wasn’t deemed anything particularly
special by critics; it has since been mostly overshadowed by their more commercially successful
earlier work. This album is much more chamber pop than indie or folk, but it acts as a window into
the reaches of their discography, with great examples of their classic sound as well as, for better or
for worse, the pop-ier direction to come. From the very beginning it’s larger and louder than any of
their previous work, casting aside the low-fi twee folksy sound synonymous with the band and
stepping bravely into the dramatic. It seems as though between leaving Jeepster and signing with
Rough Trade they found a new voice and the confidence to take the band in new interesting
directions.
"From the very beginning it’s larger and louder than any of their previous work, casting aside the low-fi twee folksy sound synonymous with the band and stepping bravely into the dramatic"
To my ears, the album plays like an old fashioned double feature with the first single Step Into My
Office, Baby and the title track comprising the pre-feature short that introduces the themes. The
album opens abruptly to a musical stage play, set in a towering office block, centring on the boss and
his potential employee and love interest. From the first listen the theatrics are self-evident; the
jumping drums, upbeat orchestration and accompanying acapella vocals are crying out for a lively
choreography. The story itself is flirtatious and almost funny if not for the slightly dark insinuation
behind the "chance of overtime" that the speaker offers. Despite his command of the office, the boss
cries for our sympathy complaining that he is "a slave to work" and a victim of modern culture. Down
way below the heights of the office tower we turn to a nearby café in which our catastrophe
waitress is hard at work serving tables, urged on by the pressure of the speeding strings section and
her life in a selfish world that holds her in "cool disregard".
The album is strewn with such instances of frustration at modern life and feelings of being
unappreciated, mirroring the perpetually antiquated sound of a band that would feel more at home
in the 60s than the 90s or 00s. The album explores this disconnect and alienation in tracks like
Wrapped Up In Books, Stay Loose and Lord Anthony. The last of which is a classic Belle and
Sebast ian style tale of a strange, precocious schoolchild, similar to the earlier Judy and the Dream of
Horses. This is a type of story that they have a unique ability to tell, capturing that specific, relatable
feeling of isolation. Tracks like these are the reason why though not my favourite, ‘the yellow album’
was in my frequent rotation in my early teen years.
“Cause you'll soon be old enough to leave them; Without a notion of a care; You'll lift two fingers in
the air, to linger there.”
In the middle of the album, the grand orchestration is stripped back, closing in on the much more
intimate and classic sounding If She Wants Me which I believe is one of the most beautiful songs
Belle and Sebastian have ever recorded. On this track Stuart Murdoch insists on writing and singing
slightly above his own comfortable range, resulting in a strained softness to his voice that gives the
impression that the song transcends him as a physical vessel.
“If I could do just one near-perfect thing, I'd be happy; They'd write it on my grave or when they
scattered my ashes; On second thoughts I'd rather hang around; And be there with my best friend if
she wants me”
It’s sweet, selfless and a little pathetic - as all good love songs should be.
Piazza New York Catcher, made famous on the soundtrack to ‘Juno’, is a tragic poem split between a
personal narrative in Stuart Murdoch’s own relationship and the story of a baseball player’s plea to
return to his old normal life after being outed as a gay man. I feel as though the contrasting certainty
and comfort of Murdoch’s relationship with his wife and the unobtainable love that the player wants
is particularly understated. The song itself is about the disparity between desire and reality, Piazza
finds himself torn between his sexuality and his church, finding security only in his career, but "life
outside the diamond is a wrench". Much later in the album any subtlety in their status as a Christian
pop band is dropped in If You Find Yourself Caught in Love, a climactic call to prayer that aims to
provide an answer to the problem of the cold and uncaring world that the album has set out so far.
The song instructs its listener to truly appreciate the love in their lives and more importantly to seek
out love desperately and with great urgency if they are without it, demanding that "you must raise
your prayer to a shout", and equating love with salvation. This contrasts with Piazza’s painful and
seemingly hopeless position that makes the song even more devastating on a second listen with this
context.
"a song that calls you to lace up thin soled shoes and walk around on an early autumn evening, to feel the ground beneath your feet and the leaves and trunks of trees you pass"
After a reflective pause, Asleep on a Sunbeam provides much needed grounding through the
calming vocals of Sarah Martin that capture a Maureen Tucker-like quality. On this track Martin
laments the end of summer but remains appreciative of the seasons, she is determined to make the
most of the final days of warmth and continue her restless wandering to "conquer the country". It’s a
song that calls you to lace up thin soled shoes and walk around on an early autumn evening, to feel
the ground beneath your feet and the leaves and trunks of trees you pass.
The rest of the album tells a disjointed story of a breakup starting with the bouncing second single
I’m a Cuckoo, the clear radio hit of the album reaching number 14 in the singles chart at release. It’s
whimsical and fun but maintains the same theme of underappreciation, the speaker ponders why his
ex was so uncaring and concludes that it was simply because he’s "a cuckoo". The breakup story
reaches its triumphant resolution in You Don’t Send Me and is later reflected upon in Stay Loose
where the true emotional neglect of the speaker’s ex is revealed. The song trudges through a typical
exchange between the couple pushed on by rolling off beats in a near monotone minor key
reflecting the boring repetition of the relationship devoid of love. The chorus bursts into a major key
as the speaker develops the bravery and clarity to ask, "what about me?" and then cycles back as the
speaker continues to reminisce. As the album draws to a close, it never reaches resolution, going out
in an ever quieting, sinking guitar solo and leaving you alone in silence.
Maya Betts
Edited by Alice Beard
Image: Dear Catastrophe Waitress Official Album Cover, Videos courtesy of Belle and Sebastian and Rough Trade Records via Youtube
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