REVIEW -- BELL X1: BLUE LIGHTS ON THE RUNWAY

Bell X1

Blue Lights on the Runway

(Yep Roc)

Little surprise that Irish romantics Bell X1 are a hit with the Grey’s Anatomy crowd. The lovelorn lyrics and sweet melodies on their fourth album, Blue Lights on the Runway, suit Big TV Moments as much as they’re capable of drifting into the background of just about any environment. The trio relies more on synths than most of their soft-spoken peers, but don’t let the waves of harmonious programmed sounds fool you. These guys used to play in a band with Damien Rice, so they bring bite to several of the songs. Opener “The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella” skips along to a springy tune that nearly disguises Paul Noonan’s sad tale about an old Polish immigrant who spent most of his life futilely looking for his childhood crush. And “Blow Ins” is all about how tiny we humans are in the grand scheme of things. Still, Bell X1 know how to have a good time once in awhile: “The Great Defector” sounds exactly like a Talking Heads song, after David Byrne dropped the art-school pretensions. --Michael Gallucci