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Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Chris Bell's acoustic dreams fully realized on "Searching in the Dark" from his "Division Street" album

"I want to make it to the morning"

Chris Bell's self produced full length is due to drop on June 19th. It is called "Division Street" and the first single Searching in the Dark moves in cinematic ways. Maybe it is because it has a narrative built on synths that sound like ambient noises, plucking layers of acoustic guitars that sing their own melodies, an engine like mid-tempo beat and bass that feels like a plodding walk (one of cold reserve) and Bell's vocal aesthetic that feels at once like a 70's folkster and a wise sage. The walk, the cadence feels like a slow walk uphill maybe pushing life's boulders or burdens and when deep folk orchestrations build until the quiet ending the story feels open ended within the music's finality.  

"On the way down,  All the way down,  On the way you catch yourself"

Bell, born in Dunnville, Ontario has been writing and recording music since the late 90’s and been a part of the Canadian musical landscape since his high school post hardcore band Chore. His musical manifestations have been many, that have brought him to his current solo work and as his press notes reveal:
Bell has been touring and recording, as the bassist, with the eastern Canadian rock band Wintersleep. Appearing on the band’s last release, "In The Land Of" (2019), Bell shifted his role from the bands live sound engineer and tour manager to band member. He has worked with many prominent Canadian acts as a live sound engineer; Broken Social Scene, Stars, Basia Bulat, Arkells and the aforementioned Wintersleep and more.

-Robb Donker Curtius







THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

Chris Bell has been writing and recording music since the late 90’s. Born in Dunnville, ON, his introduction onto the Canadian music landscape happened via his high school, post hardcore band Chore. They released three full length albums for Sonic Unyon Records and after extensive touring and studio time with Chore, Bell began venturing out into the solo realm releasing his first independent record, Time Between Failures, in 2001. The formation of Alive and Living after Chore disbanded in 2004, was an even further extension of this softer, more folk oriented approach and kept Bell busy writing, recording. Alive and Living released an ep called PLO in 2004 and toured extensively in Eastern Canada. More recently Bell has been touring and recording, as the bassist, with the eastern Canadian rock band Wintersleep. Appearing on the band’s last release, In The Land Of, Bell shifted his role from the bands live sound engineer and tour manager to band member. He has worked with many prominent Canadian acts as a live sound engineer; Broken Social Scene, Stars, Basia Bulat, Arkells and the aforementioned Wintersleep to name a few.

These many projects and varying roles have led Chris to his most recent project, self-produced, Division Street. The album touches on all of Bell’s previous sensibilities while offering the most immediately accessible songwriting and multi-faceted production values to be heard in his already high quality body of work. It is the culmination of his years as a budding and driven musician/producer into a finely balanced song cycle that, while bouncing between folk rock and hard rock, coheres into a listening experience that captivates, soothes and gets the toes tapping throughout the track listing. Having the freedom to work on the album entirely independently and free of any deadlines or technical challenges means that the listener is rewarded with multiple layers of lush vocal harmony, an eclectic range of percussive elements and, as always, Bell’s trademark guitar work making these songs impossible to forget, even after just one listen. 


These many projects and varying roles have led Bell to his most recent project – the self-produced full-length, Division Street, set for release on June 19. 

The album’s first single, “Searching in the Dark,” is a little bit about being on the road and a little bit about the journey of life.

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