[2009-03-03] Bell X1 "Blue Lights On The Runway" (Yep Roc)

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:58 pm

Review
"There's much more than a ghost in the high-performance machine that is this acclaimed Irish band's new album. Synths and samplers permeate the arrangements, but vibrant melodies and vigorous grooves are key to tracks such as 'The Great Defector' and 'A Better Band' (both evoking vintage Talking Heads) and more softly glowing fare. Blending soul and atmosphere, they frequently reach higher ground." --Elysa Gardner, USA Today

"Ironically for a band named after the first aircraft to shatter the sound barrier, the lads in Bell X1 have been a little slow transporting the success they've enjoyed in their native Ireland across the teeming Atlantic to the United States. But while 2008's Flock landed them a spot on Letterman and song placements on a number of TV shows (most notably a high-profile episode of The OC), their new record Blue Lights On The Runway has the potential to turn X1 into a stateside #1. The digitized percussion opening lead single 'How Your Heart Is Wired' quickly spills into a lush guitar riff that suggests a more adrenalized version of Radiohead's 'Talk Show Host.' Lead singer Paul Noonan is a savagely brilliant, left-field lyricist. You ll find a lump in your throat even when you don t know exactly what he's getting at. Longtime fans suffered a crushing blow when keyboardist/utility man Brian Crosby left the band in fall of 2008, but Bell X1 appears determined to not lose an ounce of momentum." --Paste Magazine

"Like their former band-mate Damien Rice, this Irish trio know from beauty. Their fourth album is full of sweet, cushy melodies surrounded by well-arranged electronic textures: 'How Your Heart is Wired' where Paul Noonan whisper-croons over programmed drums and plush sound effects, will be ear candy to Coldplay fans; elsewhere, he spikes his lyrics with cheeky asides and references to Of Mice and Men. Blue Lights is uneven, but the good songs are really good: Over the straight-forward stomp of 'The Great Defector' Noonan sounds like a young David Byrne on the uplifting, carnivalesque chorus." --Rolling Stone

Product Description
After critical raves, three national tours and multiple late-night TV bookings surrounding their break out album Flock, Irish band Bell X1 is back with the ambitious and cutting Blue Lights on the Runway. Their second album on Yep Roc records, BLOTR belies a synth-based metamorphosis for the group Paste Magazine called 'one of Ireland's greatest bands.' The central creative trio of Paul Noonan, Dave Geraghty and Dominic Phillips retained the melody-focused approach of their first album but expanded their sound through the addition of glitchy electronic nuances ('The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella') crunching, prominent guitars ('Breastfed') and glittery art pop ('The Great Defector'). Noonan's gorgeous ballad 'The Light Catches Your Face' anchors the work, exemplifying the emotional gamut fans have come to expect from the versatile rockers. Touring, licensing and the excitement of their now legendary rabid fans are sure to combine for an even greater swell of success for Bell X1 in 2009. Quite literally, Blue Lights on the Runway will make the take-off of a long, rich career.

1. The Ribs Of A Broken Umbrella
2. How Your Heart Is Wired
3. The Great Defector
4. Blow Ins
5. Amelia
6. A Better Band
7. Breastfed
8. Light Catches Your Face
9. One Stringed Harp
10. The Curtains Are Twitchin'

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PPGAS0/?tag=imwan-20

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:59 pm

Quote:

Bittersweet Immigrant Tale Inspires Bell X1's Paul Noonan To Write 'The Ribs Of A Broken Umbrella,' From New Album 'Blues Lights On The Runway'

New York, NY. (Top40 Charts/Shore Fire Media) - A romantic tale from a Polish-American elder in a New York City bar inspired Bell X1's Paul Noonan to write "The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella," from 'Blue Lights On The Runway' (March 3/Yep Roc).

Noonan explains, "I met an old man in a bar in New York who had come to America many years before from Poland to seek a better life.
He knew that a girl from his hometown had also made the journey west, and they had planned to meet in New York City. Her name was Liza. He had hoped to make her his wife, but he couldn't get in touch with her, and still carried a photograph of her in his wallet. He had lived most of his life in New York, and never married, always holding a candle."

Over jerky, tense rhythms and wistful, overarching vintage synthesizers, Noonan sings:

"He wondered how close he'd ever been to her in this ebb and flow of the distance between us/Maybe she got the same bus/He left a trail of string wherever he went, when he was sleeping he tied it to his toe/If she crossed it then he'd know/But he knew that all was unraveling/And he was bare, stripped of his skin/Like the ribs of a broken umbrella/Sticking out of a bin."

Walter P · 20 Sep 2006

I really liked their last one. I'm interested to see how this one sounds.

[2009-03-03] Bell X1 "Blue Lights On The Runway" (Yep Roc)

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