Blood Records Limited Edition Drop: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds ‘Council Skies’
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ forthcoming album ‘Council Skies’ gets exclusively pressed to black and white ‘corona’ effect LP via Blood Records, hand-numbered to order and limited to 5,000 copies.
‘Council Skies’ sees Noel Gallagher reclaiming his past and paying homage to his Mancunian roots. His most varied and accomplished solo record to date, Noel’s fourth solo studio album is a record framed by confidence, risk-taking, surefooted creative freedom, and great emotional depth.
The record was recorded at Noel’s own Lone Star Sound Recording Studios in London, with the album’s lusciously orchestrated strings recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios and includes recent singles Easy Now and Pretty Boy. Produced by Noel with long-time collaborator Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey, the album also features performances from Johnny Marr on three tracks, including recent single ‘Pretty Boy’. ‘Council Skies’ takes its title from a book by revered northern illustrator and friend of Noel, artist Pete McKee. It covers themes of youthful yearning, and unbridled ambition.
Speaking of the album, Noel says: “It’s going back to the beginning. Daydreaming, looking up at the sky and wondering about what life could be … that’s as true to me now as it was in the early ‘90s. When I was growing up in poverty and unemployment, music took me out of that,” he says. “Top of the Pops on TV transformed your Thursday night into this fantasy world, and that’s what I think music should be. I want my music to be elevating and transforming in some way.”
Last summer Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds headlined a host of outdoor live shows culminating in a career-spanning performance at Glastonbury's Pyramid stage to one of the weekend’s biggest crowds. UK live dates for this summer have recently been announced – details below - with more headline shows to follow before the end of the year.
Click here for details.
NEW DROP! @NoelGallagher ’s High Flying Birds’ forthcoming album ‘Council Skies’ gets exclusively pressed to black and white ‘corona’ effect LP via Blood Records, hand-numbered to order and limited to 5,000 copies: https://t.co/Pp174Cb955 pic.twitter.com/DDAZioWMLJ
— Blood Records (@BloodRecs) February 26, 2023
Listen Back To Noel Gallagher On BBC Radio 2
Jo chats to music legend Noel Gallagher about the next album to come from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Rising to fame with the rock band Oasis, Noel Gallagher has written ten UK number one albums and won six Brit awards.
Since Oasis’ split in 2009, Noel has returned with his project Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2011, followed by Chasing Yesterday in 2015, and Who Built the Moon? in 2017. Their fourth album is due in June, and will be the first album Noel has recorded in his own studio Lone Star. So far, we have heard singles Pretty Boy, released in October of last year, and Easy Now, released last month.
Noel drops by to tell Jo all about his process, influences and journey. He also plays us some tracks from his favourite artists.
Listen back here.
Noel Gallagher On Working On Council Skies, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys And More
Parts of an interview with Noel Gallagher taken from the new issue of MOJO that is on sale now.
On the new High Flying Birds album Council Skies: "It's quite reflective but it's not nostalgic. Maybe 'Easy Now' which sounds quite Oasis-y. But the songs have a certain up-and-down mood to them. 'Pretty Boy's' a f*ucking party tune. It's my fourth studio album and it's encompasses, I think everything I've done in the last 13 years."
"I wrote it on acoustic guitar, which is what I would do in the past. It was the position David Holmes took me out of when I was writing stood up at a f*cking synthesizer on 'Who Built The Moon?' All that stuff was so far away from what I'm known for... The best songs I've written have always been inclusive and about 'us' rather than 'me' you know."
On The Cure remix of (Pretty Boy) and the Pet Shop Boys remix of (Think Of A Number): "To my ear, 'Pretty Boy' sounds like a cross between The Cure and The Cult, an era of alternative music which I f*cking love. I was fucking so blown away that (Robert Smith) got involved. I went to see the Pet Shop Boys at Glastonbury, f*cking amazing. I thought he track was very '80s, and they'd just done a remix for Weller, and they agreed to do it. It's quite the thing, let me tell you."
On if he feels like he is defending something with 'Council Skies': "I feel sometimes, that I'm defending my right to make music that's not f*cking indie rock and to jump around artistically. You feel like when you're making 'Pretty Boy' or 'Black Star Dancing', you have to justify why you're doing it, because people want you to rewrite f*cking 'Don't Look Back In Anger' 14 times on an album."'
On Having his own recording studio: "I'm the last f*cking songwriter in the world to get his own studio, it's taken me 'til I'm 5o f*cking five."
Noel Gallagher Is A Guest On BBC Radio 2 Later Today
Noel Gallagher joins Jo Whiley later today on BBC Radio 2 at 19:30 (UK Time).
Jo chats to music legend Noel Gallagher about the next album to come from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Rising to fame with the rock band Oasis, Noel Gallagher has written ten UK number one albums and won six Brit awards.
Since Oasis’ split in 2009, Noel has returned with his project Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2011, followed by Chasing Yesterday in 2015, and Who Built the Moon? in 2017. Their fourth album is due in June, and will be the first album Noel has recorded in his own studio Lone Star. So far, we have heard singles Pretty Boy, released in October of last year, and Easy Now, released last month.
Noel drops by to tell Jo all about his process, influences and journey. He also plays us some tracks from his favourite artists.
Details can be found here.
Blast From The Past: Liam Gallagher
On February 21st 2018 Liam Gallagher performed an emotional version of the Oasis classic 'Live Forever' at the BRIT Awards in tribute to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.Watch it below.
Noel Gallagher On His North American Tour, New Album And More
Noel Gallagher spoke to Mike Jones earlier today about his North American tour and his new songs and more to come before the new High Flying Birds album Council Skies is released in June.
Click here and scroll down to the player to listen to the interview,
On This Day In Oasis History...
On February 20th 1995, Oasis won Best British Newcomer at the Brit Awards.
'The Kinks' Ray Davies presented the band with the award.
Watch the bands acceptance speech below.
On February 20th 1998 Oasis played the third of three sold out nights at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
This is one of my all time favourite Oasis concerts, watch the gig in full below.