2017 has been a strange year for the Gallagher brothers. When Oasis initially broke up, Noel was regarded as the more superior brother and “the man who wrote it all”. Yet, with the Jesus-like return of Liam Gallagher with As You Were, the emphasis seems to have switched from Noel to Liam. Of course, this hasn’t been helped by Noel calling Liam’s fans “parka monkeys” and alienating his fans with a different brand of music featuring cosmic pop and scissor players in his band. However, his third solo album, Who Built the Moon?, is arguably the finest thing he’s done since (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and most definitely his most interesting, diverse and experimental solo record.

Opening track, ‘Fort Knox’, which is inspired by Kanye West’s ‘Power’, kicks the album off in good stead. A driving cosmic pop record, with Noel’s trademark deadpan delivery keeping it somewhat grounded. The Kanye West comparison is limited, but there’s certainly an essence of The Stone Roses’ second album, Second Coming to ‘Fort Knox’ and, overall, to Who Built the Moon? itself. In fact, this does feel entirely like Gallagher’s “Second Coming” moment. It’s surely going to split his fans down the middle, that’s for sure.

From this point onwards it takes off and it takes off in some style. Lead single,‘Holy Mountain’, is a screwball, wacky pop song that sounds like everything from an offering from The Vaccines’ English Graffiti, to Ricky Martin’s ‘She Bangs’, to Bryan Ferry’s ‘Let’s Stick Together’. It’s arguably the most inventive Gallagher has been since the mid-90s and, for the first time since going solo, he sounds completely different to Oasis.

‘It’s a Beautiful World’ is almost a pure prog-rock song. Of course the title of the album, Who Built the Moon? should be a clue but this sounds as much like Pink Floyd and Hawkwind as it does Oasis. Like Be Here Now, but a damn sight more listenable, ‘It’s a Beautiful World’ features Noel singing a reverb-heavy chorus of: "It's a beautiful dream, a beautiful night, a beautiful world, when we dance in the light". It’s got a lot of singalong potential, while two thirds in, French artist (and scissor-playing extraordinaire) Charlotte Marionneau launches into spoken-word. Bizarrely, it sprawls the balance between pretentiousness and commercialism quite well. There’s a grandiose atmosphere to this record, a cosmic energy if you were, that nicely links up with Gallagher’s lyrics of love and tenderness. For the first time on this record, too, this is Gallagher’s Beatles moment. ‘It’s a Beautiful World’ sounds like Revolver closer ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ with its dynamic, continuous momentum feeling like it’s never going to come to a halt until it suddenly does.

You know Gallagher’s gone high art when he’s using musical progressions. ‘It’s a Beautiful World’ transitions straight into ‘She Taught Me How to Fly’, which is easily the best song on the album and where Who Built the Moon? really starts to take shape. With its propulsive chorus, dynamic space-rock aura and catchy repetition of “The one I love”, it could even be one of Noel’s finest songs. The weakest track on the album, ‘Black & White Sunshine’, begins to fall under Gallagher’s tired old tropes, but it’s still got more to it than anything on Gallagher’s last record, Chasing Yesterday. It’s just a little bit banal and feeble. Likewise, elsewhere there’s a few missteps. The two interludes on the record feel a little forced, for the first time Gallagher tipping himself over the edge of pretentiousness.

It appears that Gallagher has stopped trying to please his fans and has made exactly the album that he wants to. At 50 years old, too, why not? He’s combined the best parts of Oasis with some of the most exciting aspects of 80s pop music, with a dash of 60s space-rock for good measure. He’s been knowingly ripping off The Beatles for the majority of his career but, this time, it feels different. It feels like it’s got a different personality to it, like it’s inherently a Noel Gallagher album as well. Honestly, it’s a joy of an album and one of the biggest surprises of the year. Liam may be the people’s champion nowadays but, musically, Who Built the Moon? is far beyond anything in Liam’s wildest dreams. In fact, it feels a bit dreamy. It’s a sweeping, forceful statement from Noel that he’s still got it.

Liam McMillen

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