Andy Bell has announced a new solo album called ‘Pinball Wanderer’, featuring his former Oasis bandmate and longtime collaborator Gem Archer.
The Ride and Mantra of the Cosmos member is due to release his third solo record on Friday February 28 via Sonic Cathedral. Pre-order/pre-save here.
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He has previewed the forthcoming project with ‘I’m In Love…’ – an ethereal cover of The Passions’ classic post-punk single ‘I’m in Love With A German Film Star’ (1981). Bell’s take on the track features dreamy vocals from Dot Allison, with Neu!‘s Michael Rother on guitar.
“I went through a stage of playing the guitar part for that song at every Ride soundcheck,” Bell explained in a statement. “Erol Alkan has always maintained it’s ‘proto shoegaze’ and I agree.”
He continued: “Dot has been a friend of mine for a long time now. Like many people of a certain age, I loved ‘One Dove’, and when I booked her to DJ at a club night in Sweden in about 2004, she levelled the place by playing ‘Ace Of Spades’ by Motörhead at 3am and we became mates. I played on some tracks on her last album ‘Consciousology’ and this was her returning the favour.
“Then, incredibly, Michael Rother from Neu! also ended up on it. I met him at his show at the Barbican last February and asked him to remix the song, but instead he decided he wanted to play guitar, which took everything to a whole new level.”
He added: “I was leaving for a tour the next morning and I knew I had to mix the single before I left. Hearing Michael’s guitar parts in the mix was such an incredible feeling; it just fired me up to keep on recording and mixing into the night.”
Listen to ‘I’m In Love…’ here:
Bell was also assisted on the eight-track album by High Flying Birds member Gem Archer, who played in Oasis with him between 1999 and 2009. Both are rumoured to be reuniting with Liam and Noel Gallagher onstage at their huge Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour this year.
“The album started from the drums up. I love playing drums and Gem is great at recording them,” Bell said. “All the melodies and lyrics came out of that.”
Per a press release, ‘Pinball Wanderer’ ushers in “a new sonic chapter” for Bell – following on from his previous two solo LPs ‘The View From Halfway Down’ (2020) and ‘Flicker’ (2022).
The album went from being half-finished to fully recorded and mixed in “one intense all-night session” last summer, and has been called “a quintessential nighttime record”.
“[It’s] is a mix of psychedelic melodies, Can via The Stone Roses grooves and Arthur Russell-style experimental textures and perfect for both deep-listening headphones moments as well as cutting across the coolest, most understated dancefloors,” it continued.
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Additionally, Bell has revealed that he “took inspiration from Turnstile‘s ‘Glow On’ and made some songs that are too short”. The track ‘Madder Lake Deep’ is described as “Cocteau Twins in watercolour” while ‘Apple Green UFO’ references The Simpsons and ET.
“I had this riff on an acoustic and it was kind of like one of those Led Zeppelin folk bangers, but I brought it into the Serge Gainsbourg world and gave it a glass of absinthe,” he explained of the latter song.
The tracklist for Andy Bell’s ‘Pinball Wanderer’ is:
‘Panic Attack’
‘I’m In Love…’
‘Madder Lake Deep’
‘Apple Green UFO’
‘Pinball Wanderer’
‘Music Concrete’
‘The Notes You Never Hear’
‘Space Station Mantra’
Bell is set to play a series of acoustic shows at independent record shops across the UK, kicking off at London’s Stranger Than Paradise next month. Find ticket information here, and see the full schedule below.
Andy Bell’s 2025 UK record store tour dates are:
FEBRUARY
27 – Stranger Than Paradise, London
28 – Truck, Oxford
MARCH
02 – Slide (outstore at Esquires), Bedford
03 – Resident, Brighton
04 – Just Dropped In, Coventry
05 – Piccadilly, Manchester
06 – Jacaranda, Liverpool
Ride released their seventh and latest studio album ‘Interplay’ last March.
Meanwhile, Bell has teamed up with Noel Gallagher and former Oasis drummer Zak Starkey on Mantra Of The Cosmos’ new single called ‘Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous)’.
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