When you look at 2012's TV poster girl for 'alternative', Zooey Deschanel's 'kooky' lead in
New Girl, the accusations of twee filed against
Belle and Sebastian in the 90s seem pretty daft. Of course their songs live in their own singular universe, something their devoted fanbase delights in, largely informed by their educated, arty Glaswegian upbringings, but their songwriting has often been darker than they've been given credit for. Eloquently dealing with rape, mental illness and sexuality over the course of their many albums, their songs aren't all fleets of childhood nostalgia and Motown pastiche.
Another Sunny Day, from 2006's
The Life Pursuit, ticks all the classic B&S boxes - hummable melody, immaculate 60s harmonies, requisite teenage yearning - but lyrically its tale of doomed young love is cut through with a sadness which belies its sunny disposition. Heartbreaking but comfortingly wistful, like an old love letter, my money would be on it soundtracking an episode of
New Girl very soon
.
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