Can I say I’m overjoyed to be writing about the new Bell X1 album? The band was with a major label for a while, which meant that to write about it was to risk being sued, but they’ve since settled with Yep Roc, making them blog-friendly, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve been with the band for several years now, having listened to “Flock,” their second record but the first to be released here in the U.S. of A., over and over again.

For those unfamiliar with the band, it’s easiest to compare the Irish lads to their more famous contemporaries, Snow Patrol and Coldplay. Bell X1 have a little bit of a rougher sound–they lack the huge studio backing to make their work sound slick and glossy, and they are the better for it. Unlike (especially) Coldplay, Bell X1 records sound like they’re being worked out in the studio. They have an organic, genuine feeling to them that makes them transcend easy listening or wallpaper. But it’s still hard to write about individual tracks because the songs flow together to create more of a mood than a collection of singles. Especially on this newer release. Previous Bell X1 albums did indeed try to cull a few radio-friendly, catchy-riff songs, but they seem content here to settle into what they are best at: Creating sonic poems, sung in easy tones with the kind of gentle music that encourages the mind to wander around the often provocative lyrics about “hearty dogs of chuch and state” and the “God of eagle, God of light, push[ing] us to the corner of our own life.” (Lyrics taken from “Blow Ins.”) The music may be mellow, but the words have more in common with U2.

Even the titles of Bell X1 songs are touching and intimate: “Light Catches Your Face,” “How Your Heart Is Wired,” “One String Harp” . . . The two most single-like tunes, “The Great Defector” and “A Better Band” are some of the best, most hook-y tunes the band has ever created. Blue Lights on the Runway seems to represent the band’s attempt to make the album it’s always to make. It seems unconcerned with polish and accessibility, and, as such is a true work of art. It’s their greatest work so far, in the career of a band that’s already done some pretty great work.

Unless 2009 provides a dramatically better crop of records than the 10 years that have preceded it, there’s little doubt that this will be one of the best records of the year.

Buy it!

The Great Defector

BONUS MELLOW ROCKER COVERS!

Yellow (Coldplay cover)-Petra Haden and Bill Frisell

Stay (Faraway So Close) (U2 Cover)-Smashing Pumpkins