Bell X1 releases a gently simmering production in their seventh album Arms, steadying warm indie rock sensibilities with alternative sounds that charm you into liking them all the more. Beloved Dublin favorites have put out a record that slowly seeps in ever so delicately. In a brief moment lush sounds spread across nine tracks that prove their testament to time.
Chopped echoes abound through “Fail Again, Fail Better” in repetitive drones of an opener that introduces the quirky sounds of the band, even if just a little bit. Tender vocals requesting to “Bring Me a Fire King” get buried in euphoric melodies from every corner of the band that for a moment balances steadily between indie rock and synth-pop. A slow going rhythm about getting that one little push on “The Upswing” leads towards a piano ballad that harmonizes with psychedelic echoes complementing its bluesy sentiments.
As a whole Arms plays incredibly relaxed. “I Go Where You Go” almost sounds like leftover easy going bits from band practice between the piano sustains and underlying trumpet solos to guide the melody. Bell X1 sets a lighthearted atmosphere heavily in the lengthy “Taking Your Sweet Time” that gets lost in 7 minutes of extended building and breakdown of piano synths. In the lines of hoping for self-forgiveness “Sons & Daughters” comes across as a step too far stuck in nostalgic longing both past and present.
Memorable moments of the group are ever so brief in the tail end of the record. “Out of Love” introduces a melodic shift in its stop-start songwriting and scattered rhythm section, introducing welcome musical run-throughs that ought to have been introduced earlier. An admission to information ‘right here on my phone’ makes “Fake Memory” a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, settling somewhere in the sonic revelry of the track. Closing with “The Coalface” in its slow piano and drum chops emphasize the album’s more touching moments that get lost beneath its own weight.
Bell X1 are a talented bunch of lads who have consistently made music for quite some time, standing tall in their native Ireland. Though while it may have been produced for this moment in time Arms is ever too relaxed, with tracks that despite a track listing are at times difficult to distinguish among themselves.