Of the previewing singles, the electric ‘Easy Now’ and the ethereal ‘Dead To The World’ are the most absorbing and memorable. Later in the album, ‘There She Blows’ marks a non-single highlight, benefitting from the injection of grungey rhythm guitar and solos towards the close. Council Skies’ is the highly anticipated fourth studio album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. I happened to be in the studio one very, very quiet evening, and I hit those two chords that I’d never played before. They set the mood immediately. It’s very melancholy. It’s a personal song, and I don’t do many of those. Well, at least I don’t admit to doing many of those. But it speaks for itself. I always stay in the same hotel [in Argentina] and the fans are outside 24 hours a day, singing Oasis tunes. They’re always getting the words wrong. One night, I could hear them and that line just came to me. The original lyric said, ‘You can learn all the words, but you’ll still get them wrong.’ But when I did it here, for some reason, I sang ‘change’. Those kids in Argentina, that’s for them.” In keeping with the themes of ‘Council Skies’, the single is accompanied by a new video filmed in Manchester and captures the band performing inside the city’s stunning historic venue New Century Hall – a key location in Manchester’s musical heritage having hosted performances by Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. Directed by long-time High Flying Birds collaborators Dan Cadan and Jonathan Mowatt, the music video also features a cameo from another Mancunian legend… Sign up for the official Video YouTube premiere here, taking place tonight at 6PM BST. Ultratop.be – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Council Skies" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2023.

Council Skies’ is also available on limited edition deluxe formats featuring a bonus disc including previously unreleased live sessions, instrumentals, and remixes from The Cure’s Robert Smith, Pet Shop Boys, and David Holmes.

On The Go

I had the longest phone call with [Pink Floyd’s] Dave Gilmour. I said, ‘I’ve got this tune and it’s very reminiscent of the mighty Floyd, and I was just thinking, if you could do one of your uplifting guitar solos…’ He was like, ‘Well, look, I love the song, but I don’t think I can do that kind of thing anymore.’ Honestly, I begged him on the phone and, fair play to him, he was not for turning. It was in the middle of the pandemic and everybody was isolated, and it was going to be a ball ache anyway. I said to my co-producer [Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey], who’s a brilliant guitarist, ‘You’re going to have to mimic Dave Gilmour.’ And that’s what he did.” Austriancharts.at – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Council Skies" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 June 2023.

It was the first demo that I did and first song that I completed, so [making it the first single] seemed like the right thing to do. I won’t lie, I perversely thought, ‘Well, when people hear that it’s yet another drum machine, I shall bathe in their tears.’ Although I don’t go out of my way to challenge my audience, I do like to engage with them. So it keeps them on their toes a little bit. And you are in a pretty good spot if you’ve been making music for 30 years and you’re still dancing on the edge of ‘Is this acceptable or not?’ I haven’t fallen into a rut of trying to rewrite ‘Little by Little’ endlessly, I’m still pushing it a little bit.” A decade since the formation of High Flying Birds and having achieved four UK Number One albums, ‘Council Skies’, produced by Noel and Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey, is the band’s fourth studio album and Noel’s most complete solo statement to date. Top Albums (Week 23, 2023)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved 12 June 2023.Billboard Japan Hot Albums: Week of June 7, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese) . Retrieved 7 June 2023. Smith, Thomas (2 June 2023). "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – 'Council Skies' review: brighter than before". NME. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023 . Retrieved 4 June 2023. Last summer Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds headlined a host of outdoor live shows culminating in a career-spanning performance at Glastonbury's Pyramid stage to one of the weekend’s biggest crowds. UK live dates for this summer have recently been announced – details below - with more headline shows to follow before the end of the year. The artwork is taken by Kevin Cummins and features the band's live equipment set up on the original centre spot of where Manchester City's Maine Road football stadium once stood.

Noel’s assertion that Council Skies isn’t as “far out” as his previous album was a cause for mild concern approaching this new release, given that I admired the excursion Who Built the Moon? took from his usual style. Alas, Council Skies has countless merits, and as Gallagher professed, it benefits from a degree of eclecticism. Deluxe 2CD with bonus disc including previously unreleased live sessions, instrumentals, and remixes. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. Noel Gallagher announces new album 'Council Skies', shares single 'Easy Now' ". NME. 17 January 2023.

Side guide

The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 12 June 2023". The ARIA Report. No.1736. Australian Recording Industry Association. 12 June 2023. p.6.