Led by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Murdoch, Belle & Sebastian have an intimate, majestic sound that is equal parts folk-rock and ‘60s pop. Their delicate, surrealist melodies are rooted in tangible reality thanks to occasional odd lyrical details which capture a misfit’s cynicism and confusion. Their ninth album ‘Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance’, is due for release on 19th January.

‘Girls in Peacetime’ is their most sonically diverse album: there’s the klezmer chorus on stand-out track ‘The Everlasting Muse’, radio anthem ‘The Party Line’ with its Chic guitar and filtered-house intro, and the squelchy synth break on ‘The Book Of You’. It ends with the bleached-out, solarized beauty of ‘Today (This Army’s For Peace)’, with a woozy 1968 feel, somewhere between the Monkees’ ‘As We Go Along’ and Robert Wyatt: “Come out into the light, today.”

Belle & Sebastian have re-invented the pop festival; they signed to a tiny independent label but still beat Steps to a BRIT, before sweeping into the Top 40, then the Top 20. They’ve brought their lost sixties heroine, Evie Sands, over to play a show in Glasgow. They’ve sold out a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. And, in 2014, they’ve cut an album – their ninth – called Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, that blends electro-glide, baroque balladry, and giant-sized Europop hooks. They deserve several accolades, each of which are rare for any band in 2014 – Belle & Sebastian are unique, unpredictable, and fiercely loved.