Noel Gallagher announces ‘Council Skies’ | Fourth studio album with High Flying Birds

Noel Gallagher has announced a new album, Council Skies, arriving on June 2, which will mark his fourth studio record with the High Flying Birds. 

Announcing the album, the former Oasis man has released a new single, ‘Easy Now’.

Gallagher’s last album was 2017’s Who Built The Moon?. Council Skies is described as the musician’s “most varied and accomplished solo record to date”, as he looks back to his roots.

“It’s going back to the beginning,” Gallagher explained. “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.

 

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“When I was growing up in poverty and unemployment, music took me out of that. 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.”

Council Skies will be released via Sour Mash and was primarily recorded at Gallagher’s own Lone Star Sound Recording Studios in London, with strings recorded at the legendary Abbey Road.

Produced by Gallagher, alongside long-time collaborator Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey, Council Skies also sees the former Smiths man Johnny Marr feature on three different tracks, including the already released ‘Pretty Boy’.

That single is now joined by ‘Easy Now’ – the video of which can be found below.

Big-name guest stars continue on the deluxe edition of Council Skies, with a ‘Pretty Boy’ remix from The Cure’s Robert Smith (‘Pretty Boy’) and the Pet Shop Boys remixing ‘Think Of A Number’. 

Another song to look out for is ‘Dead To The World’, which Gallagher has described as “one of the best songs I have ever written.”

Find the full Council Skies tracklist below.

1. ‘I’m Not Giving Up Tonight’
2. ‘Pretty Boy’
3. ‘Dead To The World’
4. ‘Open The Door, See What You Find’
5. ‘Trying To Find A World That’s Been And Gone’
6. ‘Easy Now’
7. ‘Council Skies’
8. ‘There She Blows!’
9. ‘Love Is A Rich Man’
10. ‘Think Of A Number’
11. ‘We’re Gonna Get There In The End’ (bonus track)

Deluxe album – disc two

1. ‘Don’t Stop…’
2. ‘We’re Gonna Get There In The End’
3. ‘Mind Games’
4. ‘Pretty Boy’ (Instrumental)
5. ‘Dead To The World’ (Instrumental)
6. ‘Council Skies’ (Instrumental)
7. ‘Think Of A Number’ (Instrumental)
8. ‘I’m Not Giving Up Tonight’ (David Holmes Remix)
9. ‘Think Of A Number’ (Pet Shop Boys Magic Eye 12” Remix)
10. ‘Pretty Boy’ (Robert Smith Remix)
11. ‘Council Skies’ (The Reflex Revision)
12. ‘Flying On The Ground’ (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)
13. ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)
14. ‘Live Forever’ (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)