In developing their side projects, Belle and Sebastian members Isobel Campbell and

Stuart David went their separate ways.

Literally and lyrically.

Cellist Campbell and bassist David emphasize nearly opposite lyrical themes on their

side bands' recently released albums, while they continue to build on Belle and

Sebastian's trademark "chamber-pop" sound.

As frontwoman for a loose assembly dubbed the Gentle Waves, Campbell stitches

sobering themes of growing up into her whimsical melodies on The Green Fields of

Foreverland. David, meanwhile, dwells on childlike memories and atmospheres

throughout Up a Tree, the debut from his electronic band Looper.

"Everybody must have periods of extreme loneliness in their life," Campbell, 23, said

recently from the band's office in Glasgow, Scotland. "Sometimes it takes that to have

realizations about things."

Shades of loneliness and darkness abound on the Gentle Waves' disc, which includes

contributions from Belle and Sebastian's Richard Colburn (drums), Mick Cooke

(trumpet), Christopher Thomas Geddes (keyboards), Stevie Jackson (guitar) and Stuart

Murdoch (bass).

"The whole world around me is solemn and old," Campbell sings on "Hangman in the

Shadow." "Emanuelle, Skating on Thin Ice" addresses the painful decision to move on

when efforts to help someone close fail.

Despite those themes, some of the tracks are hopeful. "Evensong," laced with flute and

trumpet parts right out of a 1960s variety show, plays like a spry invitation to

camaraderie. The whispery "Enchanted Place"

(RealAudio excerpt) posits human contact is the most effective

remedy for the difficulties inherent in the human condition.

"I think there must be something spiritual" in the world, she said. "There's so much

different energy flying around with human beings. It's quite amazing, but quite

overwhelming as well."

The eight-piece Belle and Sebastian (named for a French TV show) formed in 1995.

They launched their gentle, multitextured folk-pop with Tigermilk the following

year. A limited run of 1,000 copies earned it instant collector's status; it will be reissued in

July. If You're Feeling Sinister, a follow-up issued just months later, garnered

worldwide critical praise.

David introduced his penchant for musically backed fiction pieces with "A Space Boy

Dream," on Belle and Sebastian's third album The Boy With the Arab Strap

(1998).

While some songs on Looper's electronic Up a Tree explore adult topics --

notably the story track "Impossible Things #2" (RealAudio

excerpt), which chronicles a seven-year correspondence with David's future wife Karn --

the prevailing mood is one of innocence on such songs as "The

Treehouse" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Quiet and Small."

"Where I grew up in Balloch was on the edge of the country," David, 29, said earlier this

year. "I always liked to go out and be amongst the trees. The childhood thing and the

treehouse thing -- it's just about childish play, rather than being too serious and adult-like."

That focus extends to the website (www.treehouse.clara.net) maintained by Looper,

which also includes Karn and David's brother Ronnie Black. A section called "Make Your

Own Looper Song" links to a web-based synthesizer that allows novice fans to create

music on their personal computers.

"Me and Karn, when we were small, both really liked to build things out of cardboard

boxes, stuff like that," David said. "We're trying to keep that kind of thing going through it

all. You can just mess around and come up with something that's really alive."

As Campbell and David unveil their respective projects to fans, they said they're also

working on the next Belle and Sebastian album. The band completed some recording

earlier this year, and expects to head into the studio in August for mixing and

overdubbing.

Fans should expect the familiar strains of Belle and Sebastian's majestic pop when the

album is released late this year or in early 2000.

"We don't have a new direction," Campbell said, laughing. "I don't think we do yet

anyway."