Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Fall Short: Council Skies

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett
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​On Council Skies, Noel Gallagher’s classically abstract and emotional delivery is present; though few and far between.

It’s been six years since Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have released their last full-length album, 2017’s Who Built The Moon. Within that time, Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have continued to soldier on; touring with The Smashing Pumpkins in 2019 and currently gearing up for a summer tour with alternative titans, Garbage. 

Commonly known as the creative visionary behind Oasis, Gallagher is responsible for solely writing two of the biggest records of the 90s Britpop movement: 1994’s Definitely Maybe and 1995’s (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?. Penning an album’s worth of brilliant b-sides that would go on to be released as The Masterplan, Gallagher established himself as a fantastic songwriter that knew how to get his emotions across in an engaging and concise manner. 

Listening to Council Skies, it is apparent that Gallagher still possesses the same level of vulnerability and charm that made Oasis classics such as “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and “Half The World Away” what they were. For example, “Trying To Find A World That’s Been And Gone Pt. 1”, largely based around just Gallagher’s voice and guitar, sees him offering listeners insight into a personal relationship: “You give me the will to carry on / In a place where I belong / As we try to find a world that's been and gone”. The simplicity of Gallagher’s lyric is highlighted by the apparent sincerity of his delivery and accented by a tasteful string section’s entrance. No stranger to crafting minimalistic tunes that pack an emotional punch (see Oasis’ “Talk Tonight”), “Trying To Find A World That’s Been And Gone Pt. 1” serves as a fantastic modern example that Gallagher can still deliver the goods.

Brilliantly, Gallagher exhibits the same sense of warmth and earnest quality on the following track, “Easy Now”. This time around, the High Flying Birds accompany Gallagher: providing a tasteful accompaniment to Gallagher’s delicate-yet-gripping performance. “I'll be there / I'll wait for you I swear / Your destination comes without a fare” is what Gallagher decrees to close out the chorus of “Easy Now”, followed by a triumphant guitar solo that acts as the centerpiece of the tune. When it comes to modern day Noel Gallagher, “Easy Now” is a standout track. Unfortunately, the palpable emotion that makes these songs great is noticeably absent from a great majority of the tracklist.

For the rest of Council Skies, Gallagher adopts a pseudo-larger-than-life persona that is authoritative without being engaging. This is especially apparent on the second half of the record, as the instrumentals on titular track “Council Skies” and “Think Of A Number” are bogged down by Gallagher’s best attempt to be anybody but himself. 

“Open The Door, See What You Find” is yet another track that has a great instrumental, prominently featuring a brilliant string section. That said, Gallagher’s vocal presence is stiff instead of his effortless flow on “Easy Now”. “Open The Door, See What You Find” also features great guitar work from former-Smiths legend Johnny Marr, yet his contributions are overshadowed by Gallagher being noticeably out of his element.

The ultimate example of this is Council Skies lead single, “Pretty Boy”. Marr’s trademark brand of arpeggiated, melodic mastery is buried under Gallagher’s conquest to establish himself as a Ziggy Stardust-esque character. The staccato delivery of “You tell me that you want it, yeah-yeah” that Gallagher provides is simply lazy and disappointing knowing that he is still capable of creating music with actual substance (see “Trying To Find A World That’s Been And Gone Pt. 1”). While one could suggest that the skittering hi-hat groove that propels the tune is why Gallagher appears out of his comfort zone, Robert Smith’s remix of “Pretty Boy” is only further evidence that the vocals are the real Achilles Heel here. 

Spanning decades, Robert Smith’s work with The Cure wrote the handbook for how to write great, emotionally potent music. If anybody can help Gallagher and his High Flying Birds bring the emotional qualities of “Pretty Boy” centerstage, it’s Smith. That said, even after Smith’s work on “Pretty Boy” (instrumentally akin to something from 1985’s The Head On The Door… fantastic!), Gallagher's vocal performance is only enthralling enough to accompany a trip to the grocery store.

Dismissing Council Skies as a terrible record isn’t the right conclusion to make. If anything, this record has some of the best songs that Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have to offer. While the record’s highlights are truly great, the majority of the record’s runtime sees Gallagher refusing to play to his strength of expressing his own personality. 

5/10  
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Favorite Tracks: “Easy Now”, “Trying To Find A World That’s Been And Gone Pt. 1”

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