Ex-Thin Lizzy fo their first period guitarist, Eric Bell, returns with a brand new studio album, “The Vagabond Out Of Exile”, which is out on February 26th via On The Edge/Cargo Records, while he is confirmed for this year’s Sweden Rock Festival on June 11th. “The Vagabond Out Of Exile” is his first work in six years. It was recorded at Edge Recording Studios, a converted barn in Cheshire. Basic, homely and unpretentious, what the studio lacks in corporate frills, it more than makes up for in pedigree. Owned by renowned sound engineer John Delf, who works with some of the globe’s biggest bands, including Five Seconds of Summer, Plan B and The Script, and run by Mark Winterburn, one of the UK’s top studio engineers, it offered the back-to-basics, artist-led approach that Eric needed to tempt him back into the studio.
Lyrically, the new album covers a lot of ground; some songs reflect the difficult times in Eric’s life, others explore universal themes of love, fatherhood and loss. Some were penned many years ago, lying dormant as if waiting to be brought to life, some were written very recently. There’s even a cover of a rock ‘n’ roll standard.
Although Eric didn’t start out as a songwriter, working alongside Phil Lynott in Thin Lizzy, Van Morrison in Them and Dave Clark in the Noel Redding Band allowed him to see the songwriting process up close and gave him the confidence to find his own writing style.
“This album reflects the music I like to play and listen to, so that’s what I’d say, “I’m trying to cover the whole spectrum of music.”
