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Peter: Were you familiar with Noel Gallagher?

Tyler: Never heard of him.

Peter: Longtime readers are loving this!

Tyler: We’re riffing, you see!

Peter: Everyone knows you love Oasis!

And Noel Gallagher!

Tyler: Ah, Noel.  Creative force behind the great, imperfect Oasis.  Leader of his own band of misfits, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.  Author of some true classic songs and albums.  Here in 2023, almost thirty years after Oasis debuted with Definitely Maybe, Noel is still producing work, the latest being the LP we’re here to discuss.

And, I hasten to add, you love Oasis and Noel, too.  So there!

Peter: That is also true. His solo career has been a little underwhelming in some ways. I have to say.

Tyler: I think he’s got one classic under his belt, 2015’s Chasing Yesterday.  That thing is excellent.  Who Built The Moon? from 2017 is a strange one with a handful of really solid tunes.  I actually today went back and revisited the eponymous debut, released all the way back in 2011.  It holds up!  Gauzy but pretty damn good.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have been around for twelve years.  That’s surreal.

Peter: Yeah. I liked all those records when they came out, but then they kind of faded for me.

Tyler: Worth noting is that he’s released a whole bunch of non-album singles since Who Built The Moon?.  I’ve heard a few, but I do not know them well.

Peter: I know some of those recent songs and I like several of them very much.

Tyler: I’m glad he’s made some left turns.  Speaks to a surprising versatility from a reigning elder statesman of Britrock.

Britpop?  I guess that’s the proper nomenclature.

Peter: Agreed. He’s a treasure.

Tyler: One of the best interviews in rock.  He does not give a fuck.

Shall we to the Skies?

Peter: Yes!

The Council Skies!

Tyler: “I’m Not Giving Up Tonight” starts the show.  What say you, Peter?

Peter: It’s interesting. I think it’s about his wife. They divorced during the pandemic and I think this is a plea to her. This album feels like his Blood On The Tracks at various points.

Not that I’m comparing it to BOTT. Obviously. It’s his divorce album. How’s that haters? Can I say that?

Tyler: I figured the divorce was worth mentioning, as well.  He’s been warmly open about their relationship since they notably met in Ibiza.  You can hear that story in one of my all-time favorite Oasis tracks, “Waiting For The Rapture.” Noel’s lyrics aren’t tended or blessed in quite the same way as his remarkable melodic gifts.  But he’s grown.

Everybody gets a Blood On The Tracks if they’re so inclined.  They’re just not gonna touch BOTT.

Peter: I just listened to that on vinyl. True story. They had a record player at the vacation rental we were at.

I always travel with a copy of Blood On The Tracks on vinyl.

Tyler: Wise.  Keep that shit in the trunk with the jumper cables and flares.

Funny you should mention Dylan.  The deluxe version of Council Skies contains a radio performance of the Birds doing “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.”  Also present is a cover of Lennon’s “Mind Games.”  Notably enough, the dreamy “Mind Games” recording would fold right into the rest of Council Skies proper, which tells you something about where Noel thinks he’s going with the sound here.

Peter: Yeah, I think this album sounds terrific. It’s so sturdy. Nothing sounds forced here.

Tyler: “I’m Not Giving Up Tonight” certainly doesn’t.  It’s a downright happy opener, counter to what we expect from a break-up record.  There’s a lot of joy on Council Skies, I reckon, but we’ll get to all that.

Peter: The next one is weird. It doesn’t really fit on this record.

“Pretty Boy.” It feels like a lead single.

Sometimes they don’t really fit with the rest of the flow.

Tyler: “Pretty Boy” showed up on Spotify awhile back, so long ago that I’m a little surprised he kept it alive for this album.

Peter: It feels like a holdover from his last record. Not surprisingly, it was the first thing they recorded for this album.

Tyler: There’s a Robert Smith remix up online.  I have not listened yet.  I always neglect/ignore the remixes.

Peter: It’s interesting. There are a couple moments on here that remind me of The Cure. Maybe he was listening to Disintegration as his marriage fell apart.

Tyler: He rather convincingly writes dance-ish music.  Didn’t expect that from him when I was fifteen and cranking, like, “Magic Pie.”

Peter: Wow. “Magic Pie.” That’s a deep cut.

Tyler: It’s ridiculous to this day.

Our next track, “Dead To The World,” hushes the mood.  I love, love, love when Noel sings falsetto.  He busted that out on “The Importance Of Being Idle” and it’s been a pleasure to hear him work with it ever since.

Peter: This is a terrific song. It’s one of the best songs he’s ever written. I really love it.

I know this one is about his marriage! He said it was in an interview.

Tyler: If memory serves, even Liam was impressed.  Some backhanded compliment about how could such a knobhead write something so beautiful.

Peter: That’s right!

Tyler: “How can such a mean spirited little man write such a beautiful song knowing ME knowing YOU as you were LG x”

Thank God for the Gallagher brothers.

Peter: Where’re the knighthoods?

Tyler: How weird a world, where Liam would probably accept a knighthood.  I’d bet on Noel turning one down.

Peter: I think they’d both take it. I think Noel has a shot at least?

Tyler: I think they have to reunite for Noel to get one.  Liam played Knebworth solo, singing a bunch of Oasis hits.  He’s got the legacy vibe going.

I could be crazy.

As for “Dead To The World,” I think it’s a lovely heartbreaker.  More effective at night, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

Peter: Certainly not.

Tyler: Next up, we’ve got “Open The Door, See What You Find,” and that title could probably have been cut into one half or the other.

Peter: This is a great tune.

Tyler: It’s got a nice upbeat vibe.  One of Noel’s ever-so-vaguely-spiritual tracks.

Peter: It’s got a great 1967 feel to it.

Tyler: Well-described!  That sound is absolutely present and I hadn’t pinned it down.

Peter: It’s that kind of pop psychedelia.  It’s super fun. The “I see all that I will ever know/I see all that I will ever be/And it’s warm outside” chorus is pure psychedelic sunshine.

Tyler: This one is another example of someone I hear throughout Council Skies: McCartney.  Or, actually, maybe a little George with “Open The Door…”.

Peter: I always think of Noel as Paul. As a writer, I think he’s most like Paul.

Tyler: “Trying To Find A World That’s Been And Gone” follows, and it’s another melancholy stunner.  Really dig this one.

Per Spotify, this recording is but “Pt. 1.”

Peter: It’s so good. This is another one that could be about his marriage. It might also be about the pandemic and Covid lock-downs.

Tyler: One meaning or another, it’s clearly close to his heart.

Peter: I’ll tell you what I think.

I think he was stuck at home during Covid and he worked really hard on these songs because there was nothing else to do.

And it’s his Blood On The Tracks.

Tyler: <mic drop, gently onto table>

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