Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Council Skies
Moving away from the dance hall, Noel Gallagher goes back to basics for his best post-Oasis output to date.
Sometimes it makes sense to return to something familiar. Whilst I enjoyed the (not as experimental as he was making out) era of Noel Gallagher’s musical career, on Council Skies he’s going back to the beginning, has dusted off the acoustic guitar and given us new sing-a-long anthems to get lost in.
The three EP’s Noel released through 2019 and 2020 saw him determined to go against what he’s acknowledged at being the best at. Defying most expectations and fans of his from back in the 90’s, his disco-rock Black Star Dancing and This Is The Place worked for some (including me) but for the masses the songs just didn’t cut it.
On Council Skies though we have a collection of songs the Gallagher manages to knock out with ease, he’s probably bored at this point but knows what his audience wants and after teasing them for a few years he’s given the songs back to them in abundance.
Opening with ‘I’m Not Giving Up Tonight’ a song that flows with classic Noel time signatures and a 70s laidback soul/gospel groove the tone is set.
There’s a very strong nod to The Cure (Gallagher’s love for them first surfacing with the song ‘It’s A Beautiful World’ from the ‘Who Build The Moon album) on ‘Pretty Boy’ a song which has been remixed by none other than Robert Smith himself on the deluxe edition of this release.
‘Dead To The World’ is a beautiful ballad, the orchestration flirting with Gallagher’s vocals (would add here his voice is sounding better than ever) if he takes a full orchestra on tour then this song has to be played as the sun sets. Even his brother begrudgingly likes this song. It’s like the elder, more world weary version of Half The World Away.
‘Easy Now’ has more singalong choruses, a song that lyrically offers support to its listener, “I’ll be there, I’ll wait for you I swear” backed by wonderful backing singers, it’s a song that will fill stadiums and venues this summer and beyond. Classic Noel and one the best songs he’s written during this High Flying Birds period.
The title track hacks back to Oasis with absolutely no shame at all. Catching falling stars and borrowing from ‘Ballad Of The Mighty I’ it invites the listener to join in with its catchy hooks. And yes like all good Noel Gallagher songs it mentions the Sun.
‘Open The Door, See What You Find’ has the big chorus the Oasis loving Champagne Supernova’s are looking for whilst ‘Think Of A Number’ does the same yet is slightly dialled down.
What this record finds is Noel falling down to familiar ground. Heck even the album cover photo by Kevin Cummins shows the frontman’s gear set up on what once was the halfway line of Manchester City’s former home, Main Road.
Drafting in Paul Stacey as producer after working with David Holmes is another sign that Gallagher is working his way back to his roots, and as the bonus track ‘We’re Gonna Get There In The End’ fades away, it feels good to have Noel back to what he does best.
8/10
