Noel Gallagher: a real high-flyer

With universal song lyrics, occasional falsetto vocals and a collection of sing-along anthemic choruses, to an extent Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds contains all the ingredients that have characterised his later Oasis contributions.

Coming in at ten songs it gives a nod to all the familiar influences, from the Kinks-style staccato pulse employed in ‘Dream On’ to the psychedelic reverb swirl at the end of ‘Stop The Clocks’ reminiscent of The La’s ‘Looking Glass’.

The inclusion of dance-inspired ‘What A Life’, which although some might see as a forced attempt to distinguish from his old band, does add an increased variety to the record; showcasing a different, but still catchy, aspect of his writing.

Some of the strongest moments on the album are on tracks ‘If I had a Gun’ and ‘(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach’. ‘If I Had A Gun’, which is a personal favourite was like ‘Stop The Clocks’ and ‘Record Machine’, originally intended for Oasis.

The casually-overdriven rhythm guitar slowly burning below a ghostly vocal blends some of the darker moments of The Beatles’ later studio albums with ‘After The Gold Rush’ era Neil Young to impressive effect.

All in all, the album is full of great songs which would easily appeal to any fan of Oasis. Whether it is better than Beady Eye is a tough one to call, in many ways it could be seen as the second disc of the eighth Oasis album with ‘Different Gear’ as the first.