"Blue Lights On The Runway"
(Bellyup)
seven / ten
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BELLX1 "Blue Lights On The Runway" (Bellyup)
seven / ten |
Named after the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound, BellX1 have been zooming through the Irish airwaves since breaking through the harsh walls of the mainstream with 2005's Flock. With its up-tempo, synth-driven sounds, the release of the album brought the Kildare act's legion of followers into a new and wider dimension. Four years on, with the release of Blue Lights on The Runway, little has changed.
The quirkiness is still there, the sing-a-longs are as frequent as ever; however, pleasantly, the sounds have matured. In between the great whiffs of electro-soaked poppy-rock, there are genuine impressive ballads of beauty and sorrow interspersed.
The album's first single, 'The Great Defector', coated in satire and electro vibes, juxtaposes with the bittersweet beauty of 'Light Catches Your Face' - a track that will most certainly go down as one of their very best. Album opener 'Ribs Of A Broken Umbrella', already a crowd favourite at live shows, blends singer Paul Noonan's archetypal bizarre tales of unrequited love with synth-driven lushes of pop and upbeat melodies.
Parallels with Talking Heads drawn by the usual music-circles are warranted, but are often wrongly spoken of as a bad thing. The similarities are obvious, yet it doesn't take away from the band's distinctive sound they've created for themselves. The songs, though perhaps quite stretched (all are well over four minutes), will one minute have you popping your fists in the air to their electronic exuberances, and the next have you holding back the tears and reminiscing about your ex.
In Ireland's musical landscape, one often stagnated by tedium, BellX1 have produced a fine album that will, for the time being, instill a sense of hope once more. Give it a go.
Mark Kelleher
www.myspace.com/bellx1
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