Belle and Sebastion's Stuart Murdoch to release solo album

We first learned about Stuart Murdoch's plans for a solo album back in 2007, and it seems the concept has finally come to fruition. Matador Records announced that God Help the Girl will be released on June 23, preceded by the May 11 release of the single, "Come Monday Night."

The album is described by Murdoch as a story set to music. "All the time I was touring with Belle and Sebastian, I was putting aside songs for certain characters. At one point I realized that it would make sense to string them together to form the backbone of a musical narrative," says Murdoch on the album's website.

Murdoch formed Belle and Sebastian in the mid-'90s, and seven albums later, they remain one of the preeminent twee pop outfits of the past decade. According to Matador, the seven-piece band is lending its efforts to Murdoch's album. Other contributors include a 45-piece orchestra, Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy, Asya of Smoosh, and Catherine Ireton, who appeared on the sleeve for Belle and Sebastian's most recent single, "The White Collar Boy."

Newfound talents will also appear on the record, discovered when Murdoch held "auditions" on social networking site Imeem by posting demo versions of tracks to which singers could add their own vocals. Out of about 400 entries, Murdoch selected Brittany Stallings and Diana Bankole to come to Glasgow and record parts of the album. Overall, nine different vocalists will contribute to the album.

Sticking to his roots, Murdoch is releasing the album on Matador (who has overseen the majority of Belle and Sebastian's albums) in North America and on Rough Trade in Europe. The single, "Come Monday Night," is already available for streaming on MySpace.

Watch the video introduction for the album here.