Andy Bell

Andy Bell built his name in the early 1990s as the guitarist and co-songwriter of Ride, the Oxford four-piece whose swirling, feedback-drenched records helped define British shoegaze. When that band dissolved he kept moving, fronting the Britpop outfit Hurricane #1, spending a decade playing bass in Oasis, and later joining its offshoot Beady Eye. His solo work, which began in earnest with 2020's The View from Halfway Down, trades the wall of guitars for something more exploratory: psych-pop, krautrock, and electronica woven into long, drifting listening experiences, a strand he pushes further under his dance-leaning alias GLOK. Later albums such as Flicker and Pinball Wanderer draw guest turns from the likes of Dot Allison and Neu!'s Michael Rother, and Ride's ongoing reunion runs alongside the solo catalogue rather than replacing it.