Noel Gallagher has announced the release of his fourth studio album with the High Flying Birds, ‘Council Skies’.
The album is due to drop on 2nd June via Sour Mash, and sees Gallagher paying homage to his Mancunian roots. “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,” Gallagher explained. “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.”
The musician has previewed the LP with a first single, ‘Easy Now‘, which is accompanied by a Colin Solal Cardo-directed video. The record was recorded at Gallagher’s own Lone Star Sound Recording Studios in London, while its string parts were recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studio.
Produced by Gallagher with long-time collaborator Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey, the album also features performances from Johnny Marr on three tracks, including recent single ‘Pretty Boy’. The deluxe edition of ‘Council Skies’ boasts remixes by The Cure frontman Robert Smith (‘Pretty Boy’), Pet Shop Boys (‘Think Of A Number’) as well as various live recordings and instrumentals.
