REVIEW: Andy Bell—Pinball Wanderer (2025)
The Ride man's solo endeavours continue to be better than the band's on this woozy third LP.
When Ride reformed back in 2014, there was a certain degree of trepidation over whether a second phase would be anything more than a chance to play those beloved old songs, after a 20-year absence. But while new material followed in abundance, almost none of it carried the signature Ride shoegaze sound. Times change and all that, and few probably expected them to just emerge from a time machine with squalling guitars and floppy hair.
No doubt Andy Bell had accumulated a large pile of songs during his years in Oasis and Beady Eye, and like George Harrison after The Beatles split, felt the need to finally put them to good use via solo albums. But the curious side effect of that was how good they are, and, whisper it, how much more impressive the songs were stood next to the Ride records. That’s not to denigrate the newer Ride albums, as they’re all pretty solid, but to these ears the Andy Bell records are brilliant. Well into his 50s, Andy is on the kind of hot streak I don’t think anyone saw coming.
And Pinball Wanderer is the latest example of that. Released once again on the ever-reliable Sonic Cathedral imprint, it slinks along with a sequence of fluid, groove-struck tracks. Some instrumentals, a wondrous cover of The Passions’ “I’m in Love With a German Film Star”, and a more electronic, dubbier feel than past efforts (see the taut, groove of “Apple Green UFO”).
Ironically, some of the tracks come off as more Ride than the recent Ride releases (notably the swoony, reverb-drenched “Madder Lake Deep”). The only real dip on the album is the pointless instrumental title track, which uses a chord sequence so done to death, I’m surprised the rotting chord sequence klaxon didn’t deafen the engineers. Come on Andy, you can do better.
Things improve considerably on the final three, music concrete, the notes you never hear, and space station mantra, floaty, mostly instrumental ditties that give the album a chilled ambience that suits his “la la la”s down to the ground. It would be good to see Andy tour all his solo material fully. Obviously, that won’t be “box office” in the way a Ride tour always is (or indeed Oasis, now he’s been given the call once again), but I know the long-term fans would appreciate that greatly.
