Andy Bell Flicker

With 2020's The View from Halfway Down, Andy Bell finally stepped out as a solo artist after more than 30 years as an alt-rock visionary and one of shoegaze's key pathfinders. As one of the driving songwriting forces in Ride, Bell possessed a one-of-a-kind knack for dreamy harmonies and distorted, psychedelic guitars that could somehow convey a wide range of emotions. With his first work under his own name, Bell sounded revitalized and inspired, blending his talent for lush hooks, reverb-coated melodies, and ambient experiments with touches of the electronic sounds he explored as a DJ and with his Glok side project.

Flicker is the second album from Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell. Written almost as a conversation with his teenage self, it follows the triumphant solo debut that was 2020’s The View From Halfway Down.

Almost a year to the day since I released my second album ‘Flicker’ here is a technicolour companion piece that pulls together the tracks from the EPs to colour in the edges of the record.
Influences, stripped down acoustic reworks and remixes by my friends, comrades and heroes all hopefully help the listener see where my head was when I made ‘Flicker’, but also it stands up as a decent listen in its own right.
‘Hatful Of Hollow’ is my favourite Smiths album, just saying…

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell has taken yet another musical detour, this time collaborating with Essex-based duo Masal on an incredible new album of ambient, astral jazz.