ANDY BELL is shaping up to release a very, very ace solo album in the shape of The View From Halfway Down on October 9th; and today’s he’s shared the video for a second track culled from his solo set, “I Was Alone”, accompanied by a video which you can watch below.
“I Was Alone” follows the euphoric psych-pop rush of “Love Comes In Waves”, released on his 50th birthday in August; you can see the video for that one here.
We adored it, natch, like the old shoegazers we are, and said: “Twelve-strings chime like a British mod-psych glory circa late ’67; they rush us through acid-filtered summer fields.”
Today’s single, “I Was Alone”, is a slightly more sorrowful affair; there’s Jason Pierce-style guitar shimmer, Andy’s trademark choral vocal lifting things aloft. It slowly unfolds, woozy electronics picking out a melody in consort with the guitars. He describes it as “a Spacemen 3-influenced song about dealing, mentally, with solitude”; it’s a more introspective flip of the coin to “Love Comes In Waves”, but boy, isn’t it good? Very, very good.
“I Was Alone” is also included on the free cover mount CD on the new issue of Uncut magazine, which is in shops from tomorrow, September 17th.
You won’t be disappointed by the excellent album either; watch for our review, which will be publishing on October 3rd.
The View From Halfway Down has been four years in the making; lockdown gave Andy the chance to finish it up. The result, he says, “sits somewhere between Ride’s widescreen shoegaze and GLOK’s darkly textured electronics.”
“I’ve always wanted to make a solo album, I’ve always said I would do it, although I never imagined it happening like, or sounding like, this one,” he explained.
The View From Halfway Down is available to pre-order now at Andy’s Bandcamp page, here, and at Sonic Cathedral.
