A man who needs no introduction, especially on British shores, the former Oasis frontman returns to action with his third solo LP this week and it might just be his best album to date.
With his new LP “C’mon You Know” in stores this Friday (May 27th), here’s everything you need to know…announced in October last year, the title for Gallagher’s third solo album was reportedly inspired by a catchphrase regularly deployed by none other than beloved Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling (and mercilessly mocked on Soccer AM).
The first new music came earlier this with the unleashing of ‘Everything’s Electric’, featuring one of the album’s other famous faces behind the drum kit. Andrew Wyatt and Greg Kurstin, both of whom have worked on Gallagher’s previous solo albums, return to production duties on his third full-length effort.
Dave Grohl applies his legendary drum skills to recent single ‘Everything’s Electric’, a track he also co-wrote with Gallagher, while Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig also puts in an appearance, playing saxophone on the album’s title track.
You’d expect to find plenty of rockers on a Liam Gallagher album and you won’t be disappointed on that front, with songs like ‘Everything’s Electric’ and the title track fitting that bill nicely, as well as the album’s closing track ‘Wave’, which includes a cheeky lyrical nod to his long-running feud with Noel Gallagher: “My brother don’t like me, he’s said it before / Who threw the first stone, and who’s keeping score?”
Elsewhere though there are more than a few sonic surprises across the new album, not least the angelic, choral opener ‘More Power’. One of these comes part way into ‘I’m Free’, which begins as a straight-up rock ‘n’ roller only to take an abrupt left turn into dub reggae territory – not an easy one to pull off, but it works surprisingly well.
The obligatory Beatles references are still dotted around and their influence shines through on the hazy trip that is ‘Moscow Rules’, while there are also shades of The La’s folky, melodic style to ‘World’s In Need’, but the album’s real highlights come on tracks like ‘Diamond in the Dark’ and ‘Don’t Go Halfway’, two moments where Gallagher’s trademark vocal style and knack for melody are paired with some interesting chord twists and tricks that elevate them to something beyond standard rock ‘n’ roll fare.
Liam Gallagher’s strength as a vocalist has never been in doubt, but as a songwriter he’s always been burdened with the shadow of his elder sibling and even though later Oasis albums included contributions from their mercurial frontman, they sometimes felt like a bit of a ‘Ringo’ moment.
But we’re a long, long way from ‘Little James’ here. His first two solo albums have both included moments of genuine brilliance, but his songwriting has gone from strength to strength over the course of his three solo albums, clearly benefiting from the influence of working with people like Greg Kusrtin and Andrew Wyatt, who do a great job on the production side here too. As a body of work, this is hands-down Liam Gallagher’s best record yet.
The Fat Angel Sings 