Bell X1 – share new single ‘Atlas’ from their upcoming album ‘Good Bones’

Following recent singles ‘But First, Love’ and ‘Coughing Up Butterflies’, Bell X1 return with ‘Atlas’, the latest preview of their ninth studio album, Good Bones, arriving on November 13.

‘Atlas’ finds Bell X1 reflecting on the quiet acts of care that sustain relationships. It’s a song about the people who carry more than we notice, the everyday gestures that often go unspoken, and the steady love that holds things together.

Speaking about the song, the band say: “The recording had us leaning into the freewheeling Americana of the Hudson Valley where we recorded, the endless skies and wraparound porches of the place.”

This week the band begin the Good Bones Autumn/Winter tour, bringing the new songs to audiences in Wexford, Dublin, Cork, Derry, Belfast and Kerry.

Good Bones introduces itself through two minutes of hushed and intimate instrumentation, a short gathering of strands that feels like a grounding, a moment of respite before moving forward together. Made in the aftermath of loss, Good Bones is a record informed by shared grief but it’s not one that dwells there. In many ways it’s an album about what pulls us back together, what lingers afterwards.

Recorded in the space of just 10 intense days, Good Bones comprises 12 captivating new songs and marks the first time Paul Noonan, David Geraghty and Dominic Phillips have worked with producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, The Hold Steady, Josh Ritter). D. James Goodwin engineered, mixed and mastered the album.

Recorded in upstate New York at the beautiful Dreamland Studio, as well as in Josh’s own home studio, Good Bones captures Bell X1 in the most instinctive form of their long career; playing together, responding to the room, following the songs wherever they wanted to go. The result is something intimate and earthy, a record that comes alive slowly, the warmth of its tones and its unexpected textures lending the songs an emotional charge that feels like a special moment captured in time.

Dreamland Studios provided an extraordinary setting for the songs to be born. A deconsecrated church built in 1895, it offers stained glass windows, low sunlight, beautiful acoustics, and a wealth of vintage instruments to work with. After a week spent in NYC, surrounded by the noise and intensity of Times Square, the band found themselves in the quiet of the woods, and that sense of refuge would become the album’s beating heart.

Shortly before recording, Bell X1 lost their friend and live bandmate Glenn Keating. His death inevitably shaped the sessions, bringing an added intimacy to the simple act of being in a room together and making music. “The biggest influence on the record was the fact that we lost our friend, Glenn Keating, shortly before the recording,” Noonan says. “The act of making music in the wake of that was a very emotional and intense process.”

While only a couple of the songs on Good Bones speak directly to that loss, its presence can be felt more broadly in the album’s emotional intensity. “Not as a wallow, but in a grown-up sense of holding the experience and facing it,” Noonan explains. “There was also an elevated intimacy between us I think, making music in our shared grief.”

That sense of affection is embedded in the album title. Glenn’s nickname was “G Bone”, while Good Bones also became a way of describing Dreamland itself: ramshackle, full of cracks and character, but rich and warm. Still standing strong after so many years.

The result is a beautifully affectionate collection of songs that sounds carefully considered but always feels captivatingly instinctive. The songs here are delicate and emotionally resonant, but they’re rooted in the physical act of three musicians playing and singing together.

Pre-order the digital album on Bandcamp: https://bellx1.bandcamp.com/

Pre-order vinyl/CD: https://anthemvinyl.com/pages/artists/bell-x-1

‘GOOD BONES’ AUTUMN/WINTER 2026 TOUR:

Wexford, Spiegeltent – October 17 ~ with support from John Blek + band

Dublin, Vicar Street – November 27 & 28 (~ with support from John Blek + band) (SOLD OUT) **New Date Added November 29

Cork, Savoy – December 4 & 5 ~ with support from John Blek + band

Derry, Nerve Centre – December 11 ~ with support from John Blek + band

Belfast, Mandela Hall – December 12 ~ with support from John Blek + band

Kerry, Gleneagle Club – December 19

Tickets: https://www.bellx1.com/

Photo credit – Patrick Glennon