Irish band, Bell X1, undoubtedly one of Ireland’s most beloved bands, is back with their seventh studio album, ARMS, out October 14, 2016. ARMS is the follow up to their 2013 critically acclaimed album Chop Chop, which became the trio’s third #1 album on the Irish Album Charts and their fourth consecutive album to be nominated for a Choice Music Prize for “Irish Album of the Year.”
ARMS is a nine-song collection radiating with shabby grace and soft-focus elegance, but there’s also a bruised, bittersweet, romantic mood throughout. Melancholic and lovelorn in places but also spirited, determined and optimistic which speaks volumes about how the band has grown sonically over their storied career. “This has been the most difficult record we’ve made, in terms of feeling like it was good enough to share, to let it go and no longer be just ours. That we’d made something different to what’s come before” says Noonan. “I know we’ve been crazed with doubt, occasional bum steers and misguided conviction along the way and we say thank you to those who’ve calmed the waters…”
Stand out tracks include “The Upswing” which Hozier recently tweeted about, describing it as “…New beautiful greatness…” – watch the video from director / animator Anna Eijsbouts HERE and “Out of Love” which The Last Mixed Tape calls, “…a stylistically bold song that moves from dynamic drops and lifts...”
Produced by the band and recorded in Dublin and Donegal by Tommy McLoughlin (from the Villagers) and Glenn Keating (from Jape), ARMS was mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Jónsi) with Ross Dowling mixing the song “Out of Love.” “The title ARMS is about the idea that, as the world feels like it’s becoming a harsher place (maybe there’s just more damn noise?),” says singer Paul Noonan. “We seek out the comfort of the familiar and familial…arms.”
Bell X1 will be on tour throughout Ireland, The UK and Australia for the rest of the year with more dates to be announced. This year, they’ve headlined sold out shows at Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens and Galway Arts Festival and had top billing at the 2016 Indiependence Festival in Cork. In 2015, Bell X1 played a fully sold out acoustic tour and supported Ed Sheeran for two big shows at Croke Park, one of the largest stadiums in Europe.
Pre-order ARMS now through ITUNES HERE and receive three new tracks instantly.
