Storytelling began as an especially challenging concept for Belle & Sebastian. Tapped to provide the soundtrack for gloomy American director Todd Solondz's recent movie of the same name, which starred Selma Blair and John Goodman, the Scottish orchestral pop troupe set to tailoring their songs to the film's characters with little sense of what would actually make the final cut.

"Soon we were behaving like veteran hacks composing '70s-style sitcom jingles on demand," B&S singer-guitarist Stevie Jackson says wryly in the album's liner notes.

Only several minutes of music ended up in the film, and the band dragged its feet for months before issuing this Storytelling as their fifth long-player.

Strangely, the heavy film project has somehow resulted in their most brisk release to date.

It's far from B&S's best work, mind you, and doesn't hold a candle to those essential, likely unmatchable first three CDs.

But, at 35 minutes in length, it shifts between incidental music and snippets of dialogue before dropping a handful of high-calibre cuts (Storytelling, Consuelo Leaving, Scooby Driver, Big John Shaft) that capture the sort of fey soul and sweet-but-urgent tunefulness that is the band's hallmark.

Instrumental themes Fiction and the harmonica-led F--- This S--- weave in and out with not-so-subtle nods to both The Graduate and Midnight Cowboy soundtracks.

As a soundtrack, it's a blessing this album wasn't lost on the cutting-room floor. (More on Belle & Sebastian)

Track Listing