Bell X1

Having been lured by the States, where early songs like Eve The Apple of My Eye featured in shows like The O.C., Dublin's Bell X1 faded after some early promise. As if admitting that they got too drawn into the idea of breaking America the band say that it was back to basics for album number six, hence the title. They've chopped out all the computers and stripped back their sound. It means there is an ethereal feel here, certainly to the first few tracks, where the pace hardly lifts.

But thankfully they do have a change of gear, with lead singer Paul Noonan's vocal smoothly moving from the early higher pitch reflection to a deeper, moodier sound as the album moves on. After the piano led introspection of the likes of Starlings Over Brighton Pier and the Elbow and Peter Gabriel-like Diorama, Chop Chop changes pace at I Will Follow You, when a fiercer rhythm lifts it from becoming too samey.

It all builds to the U2-ish The End Is Nigh (and there are good ways to be influenced by U2). It concludes the album in terrific fashion - making you wonder why they haven't shifted through the gears a bit more before then.