God Help the Girl (GB)

About

Stuart Murdoch, the lead singer of Belle and Sebastian, dreamed up God Help the Girl as a vehicle for female vocalists to tell stories about the lives of girls and young women. He started sketching songs during the Dear Catastrophe Waitress tour in 2004, eventually shaping them into a full album released in 2009 on Rough Trade in the UK and Matador in the US. The project draws on that classic Belle and Sebastian twee pop sensibility, with two of their songs folded into the tracklist, but the sound belongs to a rotating cast of vocalists, most notably Catherine Ireton, who sings on ten of the fourteen tracks. The whole thing eventually grew into a film too, shot in Glasgow and premiered at Sundance in January 2014, where it picked up a special jury prize. Vocalists from across the world contributed, including Linnea Jönsson of Those Dancing Days, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, and Asya from Seattle group Smoosh, giving the project a genuinely eclectic feel that stretches well beyond any single voice or sound.