Ahead of the launch of their coast-to-coast North American tour this month, Belle and Sebastian have released a brand new song, “What Happened to You, Son?“

“‘What Happened to You Son’ got pulled rather randomly from the last LP because the LP felt one track too long. Out it came. The song is about my youth, and the funny hole I fell into in my late teens. I was failing at my university course, failing in almost everything I tried around then. I was obsessed with the music of the time, I used to hang so much on the lyrics and message and feeling of certain bands of the 80s era – it probably wasn’t healthy.“

“So although the theme of this song is a little accusatory, the fault is with the beholder. I could have switched off at any time. Instead I let the singers become my penpals and my deities. The song tries to address what happens when the pop stars grow up, and change, and go a different way, and seem to betray the stance they held when you loved them the most. The song finishes hopefully, however. There’s always a way forward, always a light to guide you if you look closely, if you give up part of yourself, if you let yourself flow and change.”

Stuart Murdoch

Full dates for the band’s first state-side dates in nearly two years, including festival and headline stops in New York, Toronto (April 29th), Montreal (April 28th), Los Angeles, and points between, with support along the way by Haley Henderickx and The Weather Station. See Ticket info HERE.

Last year, Belle and Sebastian released Late Developers, the second of two back-to-back albums following last year’s A Bit of Previous. It is a full-hearted embrace of the band’s brightest tendencies that is not only fresh and immediate, but possessing that B&S je ne sais quoi – the feeling that the group will always be there for you with the perfect word or melody for the moment. “Like If You’re Feeling Sinister, this is a near-simultaneous follow-up that’s somehow even better than its acclaimed predecessor,” wrote Pitchfork.