Bell X1 - Blue Lights on Runway

Bell X1 has Irish pride stamped all over it. Already having scored a number one album in their homeland, Damien Rice’s former group can count the accolade of “one of Ireland’s great bands” among the adoring plaudits being showered upon them. But that’s the problem with Bell X1 - they desperately want to join the ranks of Ireland’s greatest, yet more often than not they fall short of a tall order. Opener The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella is adorned with stringy, ear-piercing synth that’s a petty attempt to compensate the lack of melody and ultimately sounds comical. When they attempt to get their rock on on Breastfed, it sounds like they’ve copied and pasted all the great guitar solos of the '90s into four minutes. There are moments that shine; piano ballads like The Great Defector and Light Catches Your Face have Rice’s faded watermark of elegance all over them. But elsewhere Bell X1 are a perfect example that no matter how lavish the recording, you can’t hide the bare lack of ideas.