Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell releases his third solo album pinball wanderer via Sonic Cathedral on February 28th.
The first single to be released from the albumis a cover of The Passions’ post-punk classic ‘I’m In Love With A German Film Star’ – retitled ‘i’m in love…’ – with vocals from Dot Allison and guitars from Neu!’s Michael Rother. It’s out now on all digital platforms and also as a Bandcamp exclusive 12” vinyl single featuring remixes from Justin Robertson and GLOK.
Speaking about the single, Bell explains: ‘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 [released on Sonic Cathedral in 2023] and this was her returning the favour. “Then Michael Rother from Neu! also ended up on it. I met him at his show at the Barbican and asked him to remix the song, but he decided he wanted to play guitar, which took everything to a whole new level.’
The video for the single can be seen below:
pinball wanderer is available to pre-order on three vinyl variants (cyan, indies only magenta, Bandcamp only yellow), CD and digital. The album tracklisting is as follows:
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
The CD also includes:
9. i’m in love… (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s Remix)
10. i’m in love… (GLOK Remix)
11. i’m in love… (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s Dub)
To mark the release of the album, Bell will embark on his first ever solo acoustic tour, playing in independent record shops, beginning with an album launch party at Stranger Than Paradise in London.
FEBRUARY
27 – Stranger Than Paradise, London
28 – Truck Store, Oxford
MARCH
2 – Slide (outstore at Esquires), Bedford
3 – Resident, Brighton
4 – Just Dropped In, Coventry
5 – Piccadilly, Manchester
6 – Jacaranda ,Liverpool
