AS his GLOK side-project shows, Andy Bell is a shoegazing legend who really isn’t afraid to embrace the tronica; in the spirit of which, the latest single he’s released from his superb solo album, The View From Halfway Down (read our review of the album here), comes subtly rerubbed through the prisms of Pye Corner Audio. Watch Andy’s simple, verdant, hazy video below.
Andy says “Cherry Cola” is the oldest song on The View From Halfway Down; he wrote it almost 20 years ago when he was living in Sweden.
“It’s gone through many changes and rewrites since then,” he explains, “but it’s a very special song to me. It gives me a lovely sense of déjà vu. It’s not musical, it’s not a memory, it’s something in between and it’s very dreamlike.”
The lovely collaboration you can hear came about after Andy met Pye Corner Audio, aka Martin Jenkins, at the Sonic Cathedral 15th birthday party in 2019.
Andy details the meeting: “Around this time last year (which seems like about ten years ago now) I had a very excellent night out at The Social, where Sonic Cathedral were throwing a party for their 15th birthday.
“Music came from bdrmm (best new band around), a short appearance from myself, playing my debut single which had been released that day, and the excellent Pye Corner Audio, who I hadn’t heard before, along with a DJ set from Primal Scream’s Simone Marie Butler.
“Although it was all musically great, my highlight of the evening was the PCA set. At the aftershow, myself and Martin had a great chat over a few beers and decided to work together at some point. I couldn’t be happier that he has remixed ‘Cherry Cola’ and given it the full PCA treatment.
“I hope it’s the first of many collaborations.”
Andy says the video is “a simple slice of monolithic visual psychedelia featuring lots of grass, some stones and – for the real shoegazers – a pair of Adidas Spezial ZX 350”.
