WHO IS HE? The former Oasis singer-guitarist. Brother Liam’s lifelong nemesis and tormentor. The cantankerous crank who’s currently feuding with Lewis Capaldi, Dave Grohl, and several other people we probably just haven’t heard about yet.
WHAT IS THIS? His second of three EPs due this year, this five-track set puts a booster rocket behind the space-age grooves of his June release Black Star Dancing.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? Mancunian. Specifically, the psychedelic side of fellow Madchester bands like Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, though you can also hear traces of The Smiths’ swooning moods. The Manchester connection is clearly no accident, and not just because Gallagher hails from there: The title cut takes its name from a poem about the city. It’s so obvious even Gallagher can’t play coy about it: “I can see guys in anoraks nodding their heads moodily to it, while checking out each other’s Adidas trainers, [saying] ‘Where you got those from?’ ” he said. Though really, he might just be trolling Liam with that line.
WHAT WOULD BE A BETTER TITLE FOR THIS ALBUM? Space Is The Place.
HOW SHOULD I LISTEN TO IT? Back to back with Black Star Dancing, or on a playlist with a decent Madchester compilation.
WHAT 10 WORDS DESCRIBE IT? Spacey, dark, swaggering, adventurous, cool, poised, expansive, infectious, flowing, inspired.
WHAT ARE THE BEST SONGS? The bongo-blasted title cut, the swirly A Dream Is All I Need To Get By and the hypnotic electro menace of Evil Flower are all strong; two remixes of the former and latter cuts are tolerable but inessential.
WHAT WILL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY SAY? ‘Sure, a new Oasis album would be great. On the plus side, we did get new discs from both Liam and Noel this month.’
HOW OFTEN WILL I LISTEN TO THIS? Occasionally, at least until the next EP drops.
IF THIS ALBUM WERE HEADGEAR, WHAT KIND OF HEADGEAR WOULD IT BE? Psychedelic bucket hat.
SHOULD I BUY, STREAM OR STEAL IT? Hold off on buying for now — I suspect Gallagher will combine the EPs (and a few extra cuts) into an album down the road. He may love trolling Liam, but Noel’s no fool.
