Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant

Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant is the fourth album from the Scottish group Belle & Sebastian released in 2000.

Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
Studio album by
Belle & Sebastian
Released6 June 2000
RecordedCaVa Studios, Glasgow
GenreChamber pop
Length40:40
LabelJeepster
ProducerTony Doogan
Belle & Sebastian chronology
Lazy Line Painter Jane
(2000)		 Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
(2000)		 Storytelling
(2002)

Background and recording

While promoting their third studio album The Boy with the Arab Strap (1998), Belle and Sebastian made their TV debut on 20 November 1999, appearing on Apocalypse Tube. Shortly afterwards, on New Year's Day 2000, they previewed songs that were set to appear on their next album.[1]

Stuart Murdoch recalled that this album felt more difficult to make than prior albums. Musically the songs were more complex and "demanded a pop precision that you just couldn’t skirt around" requiring the group to practice and refine things more than they had traditionally.[2]

The band introduced many stylistic changes on this album, such as an organic strings section and more songs with lead vocals by other members of the band; Sarah Martin sings on "Waiting for the Moon to Rise", Isobel Campbell sings on "Family Tree", and performs duets with Stevie Jackson on "Beyond the Sunrise" and Stuart Murdoch on "Women's Realm". Jackson also sings lead vocal on "The Wrong Girl" and duets with Murdoch on "The Model" and "Don't Leave the Light On Baby". It is the last Belle & Sebastian album to feature bass player Stuart David, who departed the band after the album's completion.

Artwork and title

The twin sisters pictured on the cover are Icelandic musicians Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir, both from the band Múm.[2]

Within the album's photography collection are pictures of two books, Beyond the Sunrise and I Fought in a War. Both books are titles of songs on the album, but the books are fictional creations of Murdoch's. Due to the band's interest in literature, fans have tried to locate the books that they believed had "inspired" the songs. Belle & Sebastian have informed fans about the fictive nature of the books on the "Questions and Answers" section of their website.[2][3]

The album's title comes from a piece of graffiti on a public toilet wall Stuart Murdoch had seen years earlier and remembered.[2][4]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB[7]
The Guardian[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
Melody Maker[10]
NME8/10[11]
Pitchfork6.7/10[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Spin8/10[14]
Uncut[15]

The album was released to generally favourable reviews.[5] Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant debuted at No. 80 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 113,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[16]

Track listing
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant track listing
No.TitleLength
1."I Fought in a War"4:10
2."The Model"3:56
3."Beyond the Sunrise"4:06
4."Waiting for the Moon to Rise"3:13
5."Don't Leave the Light on Baby"4:28
6."The Wrong Girl"3:20
7."The Chalet Lines"2:33
8."Nice Day for a Sulk"2:30
9."Women's Realm"4:34
10."Family Tree"4:04
11."There's Too Much Love"3:28
Total length:40:40

Charts
Chart performance for Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
Chart (2000) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 53
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 54
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 52
Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] 25
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] 17
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 10
US Billboard 200[24] 80
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[25] 3

References

Citations

  1. Thompson 2000, p. 185
  2. Murdoch, Stuart (19 May 2016). "Sleevenotes - Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant". Belle & Sebastian.
  3. "Belle & Sebastian: Q & A". Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  4. "Belle And Sebastian Talks "Hands" LP". VH1 news. Viacom Media Networks. 30 May 2000. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013.
  5. "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant by Belle and Sebastian Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  6. Ankeny, Jason. "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant – Belle and Sebastian". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  7. Brunner, Rob (9 June 2000). "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  8. Costa, Maddy (2 June 2000). "Mind your own business". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  9. Hochman, Steve (18 June 2000). "Belle & Sebastian 'Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant' Jeepster/Matador". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  10. Collins 2000, p. 54
  11. Long, April (31 May 2000). "Belle & Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant". NME. Archived from the original on 19 June 2000. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  12. Mirov, Nick (31 May 2000). "Belle and Sebastian: Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  13. Chonin, Neva (22 June 2000). "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  14. Greenwald 2000, p. 158
  15. Segal 2000, p. 90
  16. "Update: Belle & Sebastian's New 'Catastrophe'". Billboard.
  17. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 28.
  18. "Lescharts.com – Belle & Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Belle & Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  20. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Belle and Sebastian". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  21. "Norwegiancharts.com – Belle & Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  22. "Swedishcharts.com – Belle & Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  24. "Belle and Sebastian Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  25. "Belle and Sebastian Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2021.

Sources

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