Philip Bell - Since (Clarion Bell)
I always wanted to create an album that would fall on someone’s ears the way I remember music first falling on mine. - Philip Bell As New England native, Philip Bell, releases his debut album Since, it’s clear that Bell is setting the bar exceptionally high out of the gate. Given his background, this is no surprise. Just 3 years after teaching himself guitar, Philip was selected out of 500 musicians to play with Tom Rush at Sanders Theater. Years later, Philip had pages of songs written. With merely a vision in his mind's eye of what his music could be, Bell enlisted the help of co-producer/engineer Brian Charles (The Shiela Divine, Bright Eyes) to help bring it to life, and his debut EP, Since, was recorded. Since revolves around the subject of love and loss, drawing the listener into a lush bed of strings and guitars with each track, and the sound is enormous. The opening track, “Cause and Effect,” will pull you in gently with its keys and strings, then wrap you in a rich, full sound that is reminiscent of Coldplay or Doves. From the spectacular guitar solo in “Cause and Effect,” to the heartfelt opening line of “Always With You,” “Please don’t say you’re not beautiful,” and closing with the exquisite balance of harmonies on “Forever,” Since is bound to win you over. While a majority of the album was tracked at Charles' Zippah Recording in Brighton, MA, its arena like sound is also attributable to the other venues selected for their acoustics including, a 19th century church in Milton, MA for a string octet and Rear Window Studios in Brookline for grand piano. Since was recorded and mixed by Brian Charles (The Shiela Divine, Bright Eyes), produced by Ed Valauskas (Eli "Paperboy" Reed) with additional engineering from Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade (Radiohead, The Pixies, The Lemonheads). Since features an all-star collection of musicians including Duke Levine (Peter Wolf, Mary Chapin Carpenter) and Kevin Barry (Ray Lamontagne) on guitar, John Sands (Aimee Mann, Liz Phair) on drums, Jamie Edwards (Aimee Mann, Ron Sexsmith) on piano and Jim Haggerty (The Gravy, Wanda Jackson) on bass. The knockout combination of Bell’s songwriting, a tremendous group of musicians performing on the album, and the massive, enveloping, sound, Since could easily make Philip Bell a household name.
RIYL: Coldplay, Elbow, Doves.