Up until now Bell X1 have existed very much in the shadow of Juniper, the much-hyped band they used to be before vocalist Damien Rice left to pursue a successful solo career. Well, it's time for that to change - for the second album from the resilient Kildare lads is so good, it renders their past history completely redundant. A hugely self-assured collection of intense yet fragile love songs, Music in Mouth impresses on just about every level. And while Paul Noonan's songwriting contains echoes of everyone from Radiohead to Talking Heads, his erudite lyrics and Irish cultural references give Bell X1 a character all of their own. With the singer-songwriter genre dominating the Dublin scene at the moment, it's about time for bands to make a comeback - and Bell X1 should be leading the charge
