Bell X1 - 'One Of Ireland's Great Bands' (Paste Magazine) - Returns With 'Blue Lights On The Runway,' It's Most Ambitious Work To Date, Set For March 3 Release On Yep Roc

New York, NY. (Top 40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) - After critical raves, three national tours, and multiple late-night TV bookings earlier this year, Ireland's Bell X1 has recorded its most ambitious work to date with 'Blue Lights on the Runway,' coming out March 3 on Yep Roc Records.

The band's central trio of Paul Noonan, Dave Geraghty, and Dominic Phillips penned every song on the record. Leader Noonan said, "We started recording last November in a big, draughty, stately home called Ballycumber House, under the beady gaze of musty portraits of the Lords and Ladies of the estate from the 15th century. We wanted to make something different, something tight and coherent from start to finish. Where we've landed is a little bit electronic, a little bit Bacharach, a little bit New Orleans Funeral March."

Bell X1 recall Eno-era Talking Heads, Sigur Ros, and XTC on jagged, vintage synth-laden "Broken Umbrella," the syncopated "How Your Heart Is Wired," fuzzed out hard rocker "Breast Fed," the electrifying "The Great Defector," and gorgeous ballad "Light Catches Your Face."

Bell X1's US debut Flock earned the band incredible reviews earlier this year. Tastemaker website Very Short List called 'Flock' an "early front-runner for best record of 2008." In a four-star write up for Paste Magazine, Christine Van Dusen called the group "one of Ireland's great bands," continuing, "'Flock' will prove that Bell X1 is an incredibly valuable export."

New York Daily News' Jim Farber wrote, "It's not just [Paul] Noonan's sharp eye in these songs that proves winning. It's also his flair for dialogue and his keen way with a metaphor. His cruel writing will make you swoon."