Noel Gallagher releases his fourth solo album “Council Skies” on Friday and celebrates his city of Manchester, cradle of the greatest English pop groups
Noel Gallagher’s new record has the flavor of an instant classic. His fourth solo album, with his High Flying Birds, immediately plunges us into a familiar atmosphere, the accents of which are inevitably well known to fans. Entitled “Council Skies“This touching album, which comes out on Friday June 2, smells of hits from the Oasis era.
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Even if the reformation is still not envisaged and that Blur, the other flagship group of brit-pop of the 90s, will release a new album next July, the singer and guitarist pays a poignant tribute to his lifelong city, Manchester.
Manchester and nostalgia precisely inhabit this album. It had been a while since Noel Gallagher looked like the young man he had looked back in Oasis. “I look back on things from time to time, but I’m not nostalgic. There’s no point in glorifying the past, we can’t go back to it.”
“While recording, I felt like it was my best record. It has some of my most beautiful songs ever written on it.”
Noel Gallagher, singer of the High Flying Birdsat franceinfo
Noel Gallagher does not live in the past, but for this album written in full confinement and recorded in his London studio, the musician had a lot of questions in mind. “The music business isn’t in great shape unless you’re Harry Styles or some other jerk like that.”
“For example, we will be in France in November for a concert, whereas before, we did six or seven. We can no longer afford it.”
Noel Gallagherat franceinfo
Noel Gallagher will be in concert at the Zenith in Paris on November 11.
The “Made in Manchester” inspiration
For this album, Noel Gallagher nevertheless returned to what built him. For the cover, he chose a photo taken by Kevin Cummins, which notably froze Joy Division in the caption.
This roundabout is the last surviving patch of grass from the old Main Road stadium, home of Manchester City and place of glory for Oasis, with legendary concerts in 1996. Noel Gallagher still has his city in his skin. “I take Manchester everywhere with me, if only by my accent. It’s still incredible for such a small town. Liverpool has the Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen, and The La’s. And we have the Bee Gees, the Buzzcocks, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, the Happy Mondays, the Stones Roses, Oasis, the Hacienda (Editor’s note: the city’s legendary concert hall)Manchester City, Tony Wilson (the Hacienda’s founder, he signed Joy Division to his Factory Records label). This fucking list is endless. I’m proud to be part of it.”
On a few tracks, Johnny Marr, co-founder of the Smiths, joined Noel Gallagher in the studio. “Obviously, I’m a huge Smiths fan. He’s a great guy, a Manchester City supporter. His parents are Irish and obviously we both worked with difficult singers. We have a lot in common.“With such an innuendo, we necessarily think of Liam Gallagher, other”difficult singer“Lately, both have spoken of a possible reformation of Oasis. We are still far from the end, but Manchester and the world are looking forward to it.