Andy Bell spent most of 2024 with Ride promoting their fantastic Interplay on tour, but this year he’s got a new solo record on the way. It’s titled pinball wanderer and will be out February 28 via Sonic Cathedral. He cites everything from Cocteau Twins to Can to Turnstile as inspiration.
Nestled in among seven Bell originals is a cover of The Passions’ dreamy 1981 post-punk classic “I’m in Love With a German Filmstar,” which he’s shortened the the title to just “i’m in love.” It features former One Dove singer Dot Allison and Neu!‘s Michael Rother. Andy says, “I went through a stage of playing the guitar part for that song at every Ride soundcheck. Erol Alkan has always maintained it’s ‘proto shoegaze’ and I agree. Dot has been a friend of mine for a long time now. Like many people of a certain age, I loved One Dove, and when I booked her to DJ at a club night in Sweden in about 2004, she levelled the place by playing ‘Ace Of Spades’ by Motörhead at 3am and we became mates. I played on some tracks on her last album ‘Consciousology’ and this was her returning the favour.”
Bell continues, “Then, incredibly, Michael Rother from Neu! also ended up on it. I met him at his show at the Barbican last February and asked him to remix the song, but instead he decided he wanted to play guitar, which took everything to a whole new level. “I was leaving for a tour the next morning and I knew I had to mix the single before I left. Hearing Michael’s guitar parts in the mix was such an incredible feeling; it just fired me up to keep on recording and mixing into the night.”
Watch the video by Innerstrings below.
Andy has a few upcoming solo dates and those are in his tour poster below.
pinball wanderer
1. panic attack
2. i’m in love…
3. madder lake deep
4. apple green ufo
5. pinball wanderer
6. music concrete
7. the notes you never hear
8. space station mantra
