posted June 25, 2002 01:18 PM            

"We announce the departure from the band of cellist and singer Isobel Campbell.
Isobel, who has been a member of the band since 1996, returned home mid-way
through the band's recent US tour.

The split was amicable, and it is true to say Isobel will be missed.

None of the band's current commitments will be affected, and there are no immediate
plans to replace Isobel."

Now, this is only speculation on my part, but I find it funny that Isobel decided to leave during Belle & Sebastian's U.S. tour instead of waiting until after the tour concluded. In my opinion, I think there's more to her departure than meets the eye. She probably grew tired of being in Belle & Sebastian, since she has her own band (The Gentle Waves) and her own music. Word on the street has it that she and Bill Wells will release a CD shortly, titled "The Ghosts of Yesterday." There's even an article on the internet that described her as pouting during a concert in Toronto, which happened to be one of her last concerts with Belle & Sebastian.

www.chartattack.com/damn/2002/06/0504.cfm

Personally, I don't think Isobel's departure will hurt Belle & Sebastian in the long run. Stuart David left two years ago to focus on his own band Looper, and Belle & Sebastian is still here. With Isobel's departure, the same thing applies. Her songs never really did anything in my opinion, and her voice, while soft, sweet, and angelic, got on my nerves after awhile. To give Isobel credit, I thought she was a good pianist and cellist, and her backing vocals did hit the spot more times than not. Still, though, Isobel's departure isn't going to kill Belle & Sebastian. If Stuart Murdoch left, then I would be really worried.

posted June 25, 2002 06:10 PM            

Hope all goes well. Having a member of the band leave can either change their music drastically (usually for the worse) or have little effect all. Lead guy of Journey shot his vocals out, no one noticed (also, no one really cared about Journey by then.) They just replaced him with a guy who looked and sounded excatly like the first. And kept on trucking. Or how about the Smashing Pumpkins. While their drummer was in rehab. Where they music sounded the same, the dymanics of the band were thrown off course. Then he was kicked out, and they never seemed to recover.