When Belle and Sebastian dropped from a slate sky in 1996, indie elites consigned the Glaswegian septet into one of two camps. On one side were the Nick Drakians, hooked on the band's pastoral folk-pop and agoraphobia. Opposing were the Smithsies, claiming copyright infringement for Belle's use of the first-person-indulgent, sexual confusion, and ridiculously catchy songs about buses. Drake made three classic albums and said sayonara. Morrissey has dodged history's bitch-slap for years. And since their rainy-day classic, "If You're Feeling Sinister," B&S have demonstrated a Drakian knack for fleeing the spotlight-barely touring, leaving singles off albums, and, this year, releasing a mint box set of old stuff ("Lazy Line Painter Jane") only months before this difficult fourth album. But on "Fold Your Hand Child, You Walk Like a Peasant," singer/guitarist/church janitor Stuart Murdoch sounds like he's in it for the long haul.