Ahead of his first new music in three years singer Noel Gallagher popped in for a chat with Ken Bruce this afternoon on Greatest Hits Radio. The High Flying Birds frontman began with a cheeky quip to the host ‘So this is where you’re hiding is it?’; before the pair went on to discuss Noel’s latest album – and single – Council Skies, including how lockdown affected his writing and why he’s ready for that mobility scooter…
NOEL ON BEING IN HIS FIFTIES
‘My Forties was my absolute peak but from the minute I woke up on the 30th May in my first day of my Fifties [Noel turned 50 in 2017] I was like, it’s just been one thing after another! What I’ve found is that the slightest knock stays with you for ages and then once that’s cleared up its something else and then once that’s cleared up its something else. I can’t wait to get my mobility scooter if I’m being honest.’
It’s not all bad news however as Noel reflected: ‘There’s a lot of experience now. I find when you get to a certain age you just don’t care anymore. I’m not bothered what people think and I feel a lot more experienced now at life itself. But I’m not too good at dodging traffic anymore - I have to wait until the green man comes on. It’s a good job I don’t take the bus anywhere because I wouldn’t be catching any of them!’
NOEL ON THE PANDEMIC AND COUNCIL SKIES
‘My plan in 2019 was to always put a record out in 2023 anyway so I’ve not kind of lost any ground but it is a reflective album. None of us had been through it [the pandemic] before, we didn’t actually know how we were going to get out of it for a long time.
I think of all the people who navigated the pandemic best I would have thought artists were the best because your world is kind of inside your head anyway. I, in particular, finished off every song that was half written and wrote some new ones. I would have preferred to have written it in a different atmosphere than kind of sat in silence - in an admittedly rather lovely writing room but it was a weird time for everybody.’
NOEL ON TOURING
I’m on tour in a few weeks, looking forward to that. It’s America first, the last few world tours I’ve undertaken I’ve tried to start in America because the crowd I’ve got over there are quite a more considered and older crowd which gives the band a chance to play in before you get the chaos of back in England.’
