Former Oasis rocker Andy Bell is releasing a solo album.
The Ride musician has teamed up with his ex-Oasis bandmate Gem Archer on ‘The View From Halfway Down’, which is due for release on October 9, with guitarist Gem, 53, being responsible for engineering the LP at his London studio.
Andy launched the album by unveiling 60s-inspired psychedelic rock track ‘Love Comes In Waves’ on Tuesday (11.08.20), which was his 50th birthday.
It was the death of music legend David Bowie in 2016 that motivated him to make a solo album and the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown became the perfect time for him to finally record the tracks he had written.
Andy explained: "I’ve always wanted to make a solo album, I’ve always said I would do it, although I never imagined it happening like, or sounding like, this one does.
"I’d been sitting on this pile of almost finished tracks, along with all the other hundreds of ideas that had fallen by the wayside since I’ve been making music. Lockdown gave me the opportunity to find a way to present it to the world.
"The album is not about songwriting. There aren’t many verses or choruses, because this album is about sounds, a listening experience."
The title of the album comes from a poem by Alison Tafel from the Netflix series ‘Bojack Horseman’, which is about somebody taking their own life and it "really moved" Andy.
He said: "The poem describes someone committing suicide by jumping to their death and the regret the protagonist experiences when he sees ‘the view from halfway down’. Although, of course, it’s too late to change what’s going to happen.
"I read this poem as having a message of suicide prevention: if you could see the view from halfway down, you would never go through with anything that would end your life. I’ve never been suicidal, but I felt really moved by this brilliant poem when I watched the show during Ride’s US tour in autumn 2019. It’s an incredible message."
Andy began his impressive music career in 1988 with shoegaze legends Ride before forming Hurricane #1 in 1996.
In 1999, Andy joined Oasis as their new bassist along with Gem on guitar following the departures of original members Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs and Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan.
The pair remained in the group until 2009 when Noel Gallagher quit following a backstage bust-up with his brother, singer Liam Gallagher.
Liam, Andy, Gem and then-Oasis drummer Chris Sharrock went on to form new band Beady Eye, but after two LPs they split in 2014.