In the studio & live
Two new albums from Liam Gallagher
The British singer Liam Gallagher wants to build on great success. Photo: Alberto Pezzali/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A little over a quarter of a century ago, Liam Gallagher made music history with his brother Noel and Oasis at Knebworth. Now he wants to repeat the triumph with a solo performance there. In their luggage: two new albums.
Liam Gallagher has not been idle during the corona pandemic. This Friday (May 27th) he not only brings one, but two new albums onto the market. In addition to the studio record “C’Mon You Know”, the live album “Down By The River Thames” will also be released.
It was created in the lockdown winter of 2020. At that time, the former Oasis singer, following the British music legends Sex Pistols and The Clash, made music on a barge across the Thames. He recorded the live concert with Oasis songs like “Supersonic” and “Cigarettes & Alcohol” as well as solo titles like “Wall Of Glass” or “Once”.
Rock ‘n’ roll saved him
“So here it is, the gig they said we would never, ever be able to put together,” says the younger of the two notorious Gallagher rock stars, according to his record company. “When we were stuck in the boredom and depression of lockdown, rock ‘n’ roll saved us once again.”
But even more emerged from this corona boredom and depression: the third studio album by the 49-year-old. Without the pandemic, the record might not have existed at all, he says in an interview with the German Press Agency in Munich: “We were all sitting around at home, couldn’t get out and sent ideas back and forth. And suddenly there were more and more songs. There were good things there.”
The «Sound of Summer»
The title song for example, a declared party song. “People think way too much,” says Gallagher. But music has to “kick and get people to drink and jump. Simple lyrics, in your face.” He calls his song “Better Days” the “sound of summer”.
And he should be no later than the first weekend in June in Knebworth Park north of London. Gallagher sets out to repeat music history. The two concerts that he played more than 25 years ago, in the summer of 1996, with his brother Noel and their cult band are legendary today, not only for Oasis fans.
“Of course I want to revive the memories from back then – but also create completely new ones,” says Gallagher, who is postponing his urgently needed hip surgery for the mega show, in a dpa interview. «This time it’s not Oasis, this time it’s me. A lot of people my age who were there then have kids they come to Knebworth with now. And I’m definitely not going to do such awkward things like “Wonderwall” at 900x speed.”
The dream of many fans to see the infamous Gallagher brothers – singer Liam and guitarist and Oasis mastermind Noel – once again side by side, who have been at odds for many years, seems not to be fulfilled at the two Knebworth memorial concerts either.
“He wishes he were me,” mobs the younger Gallagher brother, as he has done for years and as is basically expected of him: “I can pay people who can do what he can do much better . They write me songs a thousand times better than Noel’s. But he can’t hire people like me.”
Liam Gallagher’s studio album “C’Mon You Know” and live album “Down By The River Thames” will be released on Friday (May 27) by Warner.