COUNCIL SKIES

We really need the return of oasis?

SINCE THE RELEASE OF HIS SELF-TITLED ALBUM: NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS IN 2011, NOEL GALLAGHER’S SOLO CAREER HAS ONLY CONSOLIDATED to the point that some say that Noel’s work as a soloist surpasses the iconic work that left as the brains of Oasis. In this summer of 23, Noel release Council Skies, the fourth solo studio album of his career, heir to the glory of Oasis in his recording career between 1994 and 2008 and backed by his solo predecessors: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (2011 ), Chasing Yesterday (2015), Who Built the Moon? (2017) and the compilation Back the Way We Come Vol. 1 (2021).

COUNCIL SKIES, ONE MORE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER. Council Skies, produced by Sour Mash, a label owned by Noel Gallagher and recorded at the Lone Star and Abbey Road studios in London, consists of 10 songs with a total duration of 43 minutes in its basic edition, available on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music; there is also a physical version in CD format that has a bonus track, a limited edition in LP format with two extra songs and a deluxe edition on CD that has 14 extra tracks with a total duration of 108 minutes.

ABOUT ADULT LOVE, LIFE AND ACCEPTANCE. The songs that make up Council Skies have representative elements of Noel Gallagher’s musical work. The deep lyrics about love, but not cheesy and sweetened love, but adult and realistic love in a song like “Trying to Find a World That’s Been and Gone: Part 1” (track 5) where he addresses the grief caused by separation in a personal relationship, be it love, family or friendship, as well as reflections on how to face existence through Noel’s brutally honest personal vision of life as “Easy Now” (track 6) as well as addressing issues of inclusion and acceptance in “Pretty Boy” (track 2) in whose official video clip the issue of transsexuality is addressed with the honesty and pragmatism that have made Noel Gallagher of public life loved and hated, dealing with a current issue with clarity and simplicity without falling into the harassing preaching and woke victimization.

THE HYMN MAKER. The emotionality of the choirs, strings and other orchestral elements are complemented by the basic and at the same time tasty acoustic guitar chords and excellent performances of drums, bass, keyboards and percussion, product of the collaboration of musicians such as: Gem Archer and Chris Sharrock, former members of Oasis and Pet Shop Boys, Robert Smith and Jason Cooper. Critics treat Council Skies very well. Metacritics gave it a rating of 81 having universal acclaim, that is, without negative reviews. Other specialized media have praised the album and here at BUBBLES&CHERRIES we join the clamor, praise and cheers for the latest work by the greatest of the Gallaghers.

THE ACCLAIMED RETURN, BUT (PERHAPS) UNNECESSARY. Noel Gallagher and his brother, Liam, are great soccer fans of reigning English Premier League and UEFA Champions League champions Manchester City. In the preview of the last Champions League final, in which City defeated Inter Milan in Istanbul, a rumor arose that if the Citizens defeated the Neroazzurri and therefore took the trophy to the gray and industrious Manchester, as it finally happened, drunk with happiness, the Gallaghers would refound Oasis, the biggest rock band of the last decade of the 20th century.

On Twitter, the rumor grew along with the drunkenness of Jack Grealish, a player for Manchester City and the England national team, who made public the ethylic feast with which he celebrated the most glorious season in the club’s history, to the point that many fans chose a photo of Grealish at the team celebration parade in the streets of Manchester, as a potential cover of the supposed Oasis comeback album, but it only remained in that, in wishes and clamors, because although Liam is enthusiastic about the idea, to Noel, despite the famous “He’s got my number, he’s got my manager number. Call us” doesn’t really want to resume the work and artistic relationship (and perhaps not the family one) with his brother. The public who loved the Britpop of nineties and the evolution of the band in the two thousand, like the vocalist, long for Oasis, but the brain of the band is more comfortable in his solo role.

Mass hysteria calls for the return of Oasis, but do we really need it, when Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds is a true wonder?

I think not, and you?