Earlier this year I picked up the Thin Lizzy Acoustic Sessions, and it struck me how folky and – well – authentic those earliest ideas were. Listening now to Authenticity, it feels like hearing the songs that pre-dated the band, the sparks that would eventually ignite Thin Lizzy. It’s rare, and genuinely fascinating, to listen back and realise just how much of that lineage sits in Eric Bell’s playing.
Of course, you wouldn’t normally mention a man’s past too much when reviewing his latest work, but the connection here is unavoidable. You can hear the history. You can hear where it all came from. Yet what’s crucial is this: the album isn’t defined by Lizzy. It’s defined by the tremendous songwriter Eric Bell is, and by the way he brings folk, blues and jazz together so effortlessly.
“Some Girls” opens the record with a jazziness that almost dances out of the speakers, a tone that recalls those early, exploratory days. “Walk on Water” shifts into something more contemplative, dealing with religion and even speculating what Jesus might make of 2025 if he returned to see what we’ve built – and broken. Maybe not a debate for here, but it’s a song that clearly has something to say.
“Tales of Thin Lizzy” is exactly what the title suggests: warm, reflective, and quietly moving. “Honeycomb Nights,” meanwhile, glows with a gentle swing, while “Rhona” is tender and introspective. Bell’s guitar playing throughout is superb, but on tracks like “The Empty Beach” it becomes something else entirely – almost weightless, floating across the album in a way I genuinely wasn’t expecting, even having reviewed a couple of Eric Bell albums before. This one feels different. It feels special.
“I Wasn’t Born in the Delta” is more what you might anticipate from Bell – bluesy, earthy, but viewed through an unmistakably Irish lens. And doesn’t that underline what the blues really is? Universal. The struggles of the working class stretch across borders, which is why the lack of empathy so visible in 2025 feels even more jarring. Bell taps into that wide-screen human story again on “Chameleon Man,” wrestling with confusion and identity.
“That Time of Night” may well be the highlight – poetic, atmospheric, beautifully written. And “Away With the Fairies” closes things with a little wink, a little fun, and a burst of blues played with real joy.
Because that’s what Authenticity ultimately is: pure Eric Bell. Pure craft. Pure honesty. An album that gives you exactly what its title promises. Authenticity is surely his middle name.
