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Tidal Love Numbers

by Andy Bell & Masal

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about

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell has taken yet another musical detour, this time collaborating with Essex-based duo Masal on an incredible new album of ambient, astral jazz.

‘Tidal Love Numbers’ is made up of four mesmerising, meandering instrumental tracks that combine Andy’s incredible guitar playing with analogue synths and harp.

Andy’s history in Ride, Oasis and numerous other bands is well-known, and his solo career has also taken off; his most recent album, Flicker, was one of last year’s finest. Masal, meanwhile, came together in Leigh-on-Sea after a chance meeting in a charity shop.

You can find more of their music here: masalbanduk.bandcamp.com

Al Johnson has performed and released records as Alien for a number of years now, while Oz Simsek studied classical harp while growing up in Turkey, before joining a jazz band. Since relocating to the UK she has worked with the likes of Viv Albertine and Gazelle Twin. The duo connected over a shared love of electronic and world music and released their debut album ‘Charity Shop’ in 2020.

The collaboration with Andy came about after they supported him
at an Andy Bell Space Station gig in Chelmsford during Independent Venue Week at the start of 2022. They got chatting on the night, and bonded over ‘Promises’, the collaboration between Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and The London Symphony Orchestra.

“After hearing it, I felt there was something in that area for me, if I found the right collaborators,” says Andy, explaining how the hugely acclaimed 2021 release was effectively the starting point for this new project. “So, I was kind of on the lookout from that point. I’ve always loved the sound of harp music – Alice Coltrane and Joanna Newsom are both firm favourites – and so, when I met Oz and Al, it seemed like it could be a good combination.”

“The moment Andy mentioned his love of the Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders album, I knew we were thinking along the same lines,” says Oz. “As a lifelong shoegazer, Al already shared a common musical background and direction, but we got chatting over texts and emails and very soon we were exchanging musical ideas.”

Andy was inspired by the likes of William Basinski, Harold Budd, Ariel Kalma’s ‘Osmose’ and Babe, Terror’s ‘Ancient M’ocean’, while Masal shared their love for Prince Lasha, Turkish prog and folk, medieval harp music and ‘Guitarrorists’, a 1991 compilation of outsider guitar sounds.

The end result – sympathetically mastered by Andy’s Ride bandmate Mark Gardener – lands somewhere between Mary Lattimore, psych-folk guitarist Sandy Bull and Spacemen 3’s ‘Dreamweapon’, with the four pieces subtly ebbing and flowing from pastoral picking to psychedelic bliss to noisy drones and back again, all punctuated by Oz’s heavenly harp.

Despite their length, the tracks never outstay their welcome, and their stream-of-consciousness titles add to the sense of intrigue.
“I wanted super-long titles like Felt,” explains Andy. “And I wanted
to cram into them as much imagery and emotion as possible.”

It worked – this is an incredibly satisfying trip; as focused and vivid as it is fuzzy and vague. It’s time to float away with the ‘Tidal Love Numbers’.

credits

released May 19, 2023

All tracks written by Andy Bell, Ozlem Simsek & Alastair Johnson (Kobalt/Copyright Control)
Produced by Andy Bell & Masal
Mixed by Alastair Johnson
Mastered by Mark Gardener at OX4 Sound
Artwork by Marc Jones

Thanks from Masal to Suezy Johnson and Steve Coster for their continued love and support and to Andy Bell and Nat for bringing this project to life

Andy would like to thank Shiarra, Old Blood Noise and Fairfield Circuitry

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