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 Named after the first plane to break the sound barrier, Bell X1 are master craftsmen of irreverent rock that marries dark musical chasms with thoughtful, hyper-literate lyrics. They had solid roots in Europe for several years before being noticed Stateside.
Bell X1 rose from the ashes of Juniper, which featured Damien Rice (then going by the name Dodi Ma) on vocals. The group recorded two critically acclaimed EPs before signing a six-record deal with Polygram in 1997 — but before they had a chance to record a full-length effort, Rice left the band to pursue a neo-folkie solo career. Much of the band’s writing duties then shifted to guitarist Dave Geraghty and drummer Paul Noonan assumed vocal duties. With a foundation drawn from pop forebears Crowded House — their 2000 debut Neither Am I was produced by CH’s Nick Seymour — and the Talking Heads, the band was first spotted on the mainstream pop culture radar with their third studio effort, Flock, which was highlighted by the haunting “Rocky Took a Lover.” Guitarist/keyboardist Brian Crosby left the band following tour support of Flock due to his ever-increasing duties with The Cake Sale charity project and TV- and film-scoring assignments.
Bell X1 has occasionally been challenged by a stepped-release schedule for its recordings. “Eve, the Apple of My Eye,” from Music in Mouth, achieved some notoriety for coloring a steamy scene in an episode of “The O.C.,” but lost a bit of ground capitalizing on it because the album had not been released yet in the U.S. Flock bowed in Ireland in 2005, in the U.K. in 2006 and in the U.S. in 2008. They toured behind Flock while previewing and recording Blue Lights on the Runway, which was released more broadly across the U.S. and most European countries in early 2009.
Provenance: Celbridge, Country Kildare, Ireland
Latest Release: Blue Lights on the Runway (2009)
© 2009 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
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