In this project we see Gallagher going back to his past. He touches base with the life he had, back in the day when he was broke, a daydreamer and wondering what life could be like. It is a way of going back to the beginning for him. The songs that have been already released from the album are “Pretty Boy”, “Easy Now”, “Dead To The World” and, now, we are presented with “Council Skies”. Which is believed to be the last release before the final drop.

We can confirm it is an album close to his heart and has transmitted a different level to his sound. The rockstar himself admits that “Dead To The World” is the best song he has ever written.

Throughout the album expect to hear the likes of collaborators such as Paul “Strangeboy” Lacey, who’ve worked together for a long time running during their musical careers. The Smith’s co-songwriter, Johnny Marr, makes an appearance in three tracks including the already released “Pretty Boy”.  And last but not least ,The Cure frontman Robert Smith has also input towards remixes on a couple of the songs as well as live recordings.

Noel Gallagher explains “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. When I was growing up in poverty and unemployment, music took me out of that” on the making of Council Skies.

The name claimed itself when he was sat at his coffee table and saw a book by Pete McKee titled that same way; Council Skies. He rather liked the ring of it and thought it fit only too well into the significance of his album. It is said that the musician got in contact with McKee to request permission for using the same title on his release. A success, clearly.

The album release will be followed up by an arena UK tour. Starting on the 21st of July in Buckinghamshire he will make his way around the country until finishing in Liverpool on the 21st December.

Tickets are available here.

UK Tour dates:

21/07/23 – Pennfest – Buckinghamshire
23/07 – Wollaton Park – Nottingham
28/07 – Crystal Palace Bowl – London
30/07 – Brighton Beach – Brighton
05/08 – Audley End – Essex
19/08 – Caldicot Castle – Monmouthshire
20/08 – Hardwick Festival – Sedgefield
24/08 – Vivary Park – Taunton
26/08 – Wythenshawe Park – Manchester
27/08 – Royal Hospital – Dublin
30/08 – Bonus Arena – Hull
01/09 – Don Valley Bowl – Sheffield
14/12 – OVO Arena Wembley – London
15/12 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham
17/12 – International Arena – Cardiff
18/12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
20/12 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
21/12 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Bird’s will also embark on a set of outdoor performances throughout the summer, including a number of festival appearances. The 55-year-old rock star and his band are set to headline big festivals in the summer, including PennFest, Splendour Festival, On The Beach Brighton Festival, Hardwick Festival and the Rock N Roll Circus. His upcoming shows will be among Gallagher’s first performances since his career-spanning set which he performed at Glastonbury festival in 2022, on the pyramid stage. The band also announced a USA tour, which consists of 26-dates.

The announcement of the tour came after the release of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Bird’s latest single, ‘’Dead to the world.’’ The single has been released prior to Noel Gallagher’s forthcoming album release, Council Skies, which is his fourth studio album release with his High Flying Birds. The album is set to debut Friday June 2. ‘’Easy Now’’ and ‘Pretty Boy’’ are the other two songs already released from the album.

Whilst speaking about his brand new song, ‘’Dead to the world’’, Gallagher said the single is ‘’by some distance my favourite tune on the album. It has this film noir vibe. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever done before. It’s very melancholic, but I like that. I’m a Gemini – I’m as up as I am down, and the trick is to meet somewhere in the middle and turn that into music.”

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ 2023 UK Arena Tour Dates

30/8/23 – Hull Bonas Arena – Hull

14/12/ – Wembley Ovo Arena – London

15/12 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham 

17/12 – International Arena – Cardiff

18/12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds

20/12 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow

21/12 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Scheduled 2023 Outdoor Summer Shows

21/07/2023 – PennFest – Buckinghamshire 

23/07 – Splendour Festival – Nottingham 

28/07 – Crystal Palace Bowl – London

30/07 – On The Beach – Brighton

05/08 – Essex Audley End – Saffron Waldon

19/08 – Caldicot Castle – Monmouthshire

20/08 – Hardwick Festival – Sedgefield

24/08 – Vivary Park – Somerset 

26/08 – Wythenshawe Park – Manchester

27/08 – Kilmainham Royal Hospital – Dublin

01/09 – Rock N Roll Circus – Sheffield 

Deluxe Council Skies Album Track list

Disc 1

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

Disc 2

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)

13. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Radio 2 Session)

14. Live Forever (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday March 31. A special pre-sale will be available on Wednesday March 29, for fans who pre-order the forthcoming album, Council Skies, from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds official store. To access the tickets on the day of release, click here.

The mancunian legend is best known for his work in the band, Oasis, with his brother Liam Gallagher. He has developed a strong fan base throughout his successful career within the music industry and is now primarily focused on his rock band, High Flying Birds, which was formed in 2010. The band consists of former oasis members, Guitarist Gem Archer, Pianist Mike Rowe and Drummer Chris Sharrock. The group also has former Zuton’s band member, Russell Pritchard, who plays bass. On a Jonathan Ross interview in 2011, supporting his first studio album with the band, Noel confirmed that the name of the band was inspired by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac album and Jefferson Airplane’s song ‘’High Flying Birds.’’

Oasis split up in 2009 after an altercation between brothers Noel and Liam at the French Festival, Rock en Seine. Fans across the country have been calling on the feuding brothers in desperation for the band to come together for a reunion tour and when asked if an Oasis reunion will ever be on the cards, on BBC Radio Manchester earlier this year, Noel said ‘’You should never say never’’ but added ‘’It would have to take an extraordinary set of circumstances, but that’s not to say that those circumstances would never come about.’’

Liam has also been vocal about his views on an Oasis Reunion. In a 2022 interview with The Times, saying, ‘’I’d love Oasis to get back together. If it happens, it happens.’’ He also added ‘’we should never have split up, but we did, and this is where we’re at.’’ In another part of the interview, he explained “We split up nearly 13 years ago. It’s ridiculous. We can go on about whose fault it is, but he’s his own man. If he really wanted to get in contact, for my mum’s sake, he could do it, but he obviously doesn’t want to. There are only so many olive branches you can offer.” 

On June 2nd, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds are set to release their fourth studio album Council Skies. Two singles from the album have already been released, ‘’Pretty Boy’’ and ‘’Easy Now.’’ This album is the follow-up to his most recent album release, which debuted in 2017, Who Built The Moon? Self-titled album Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Bird’s (2011) and Chasing Yesterday (2015) are the band’s previously released studio albums. When speaking about the upcoming album, Noel Gallagher expressed his visions for the new release, “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 90’s.’’

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will perform at the On The Beach Sunday event on July 30 2023. The tickets go on sale Friday 24 February at 10am. To access pre-sale tickets for the event, click here.

The new album, which was effectively announced around the same time as the musician’s divorce, is set to be officially released on June 2nd, 2023. The album revelation is coupled with an early single release “Easy Now” showcasing the guitarist’s trademark brit pop writing skills. It offers us a touch of his nostalgic sound, accompanied by a new music video featuring Milly Alcock, who recently starred in House Of The Dragon.

Gallagher explains in a Radio X interview how the album was written during lockdown and, although he considers the album should be interpreted as one desires, he recognises Council Skies as a reflective project. When Gallagher talks about the title of the release he says “It sparked off thoughts of my youth and all my dreams that I dreamt of underneath the council skies“.

It is a short tour, set to start on the Friday, 21st of July in Buckinghamshire, not long after the album release, which will run through to finally wrap up in Dublin at the end of August. If anyone knows how to put on a show it is Noel Gallagher. This is not just any other tour around the UK. He will be playing in a variety of locations such as the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham in Dublin as an outdoor show, as well as Wythenshawe Park in Manchester, not to mention Caldicot Castle in Monmouthshire, Wales, and several other festivals.

If the album release and locations aren’t reason enough already to awaken excitement and anticipation for these performances, a series of special guests will be making an appearance to jazz up the shows for us. Each performance will include a different guest star appearance, making each show just as unique as the other. We are expecting to see visits from artists such as Johnny Marr, The Zutons, Tom Meighan, Feeder, Primal Scream, Future Islands and Happy Mondays. 

Click here for tickets!

UK Tour dates:

21/07/23 – Pennfest – Buckinghamshire
28/07 – Crystal Palace Bowl – London
05/08 – Audley End – Essex
19/08 – Caldicot Castle – Monmouthshire
20/08 – Hardwick Festival – Sedgefield
26/08 – Wythenshawe Park – Manchester
27/08 – Royal Hospital – Dublin