BELLE & SEBASTIAN ANNOUNCE AUSTRALIAN TOUR

News

1 May

The Scottish indie pop act will be joined by Badly Drawn Boy on their August tour.

After a six-year absence, Scottish indie pop act Belle and Sebastian return to our shores for an Australian tour later this year.

Touring in support of their twelfth album, 2023s Late Developer, Belle and Sebastian will play five shows across the country this August.

Kicking things off in Brisbane at the Tivoli (Wednesday, August 21), the septet will then play Sydney’s Enmore Theatre (Thursday, August 22), Melbourne’s Palais Theatre (Friday, August 23), Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall (Sunday, August 25) and Perth’s Astor Theatre (Thursday, August 29).

Joining Belle and Sebastian on tour is UK singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy, making his first trip Down Under in over two decades.

Belle and Sebastian have been at the heart and soul of the British indie pop scene since dropping their 1996 debut Tigermilk. For close to 30 years the group has consistently released critically acclaimed albums, with 2006’s The Life Pursuit arguably their crowning glory.

The current lineup of Stuart Murdoch (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Stevie Jackson (guitar, vocals, piano), Sarah Martin (vocals, violin, guitar, flute, keyboards, recorder, percussion), Chris Geddes (keyboards, piano, percussion), Richard Colburn (drums, percussion) and Bobby Kildea (guitar, bass) appear keen to tour Australian again, taking to social media to not only hype the tour but also ask fans to help shape the setlist by listing their favourite songs in the comments.

It’s been a long time between drinks for 2000 Mercury Prize winner Badly Drawn Boy, aka Damon Gough. After breaking out with his debut album The Hour of Bewilderbeast, Gough followed up with the soundtrack to the hit flick About a Boy, cementing himself as one of the UK’s brightest talents.

Not one for the spotlight, Gough continued to release music without embracing the publicity machine and eventually went independent. Although 2020’s Banana Skin Shoes is his first studio album in ten years, it’s been well-received, with Exclaim calling the record “classic Badly Drawn Boy: Eclectic songs held together by heartfelt lyrics and rich instrumentation.”

Early bird pre-sale begins Tuesday, May 7 at 8:30am local time. You can register here. General tickets go on sale Thursday, May 9 at 8:30am local time via Destroy All Lines.