Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Noel Gallagher has recorded two albums since the inevitable collapse of Oasis, one with leftfield psych DJs Amorphous Androgynous and this one with The High Flying Birds. Can't wait to hear the record with AA, because this one sure isn't very good. It's impossible to avoid the feeling that Noel's sitting on a very comfortable fence, not sure if he should turn towards the dusty '70s rock or sunny '60s pop side of his no-doubt extensive record collection. Unfortunately, this means he's retreated back to the boring, soft sound of the waning days of Oasis. This is a real shame, because Gallagher's best moments outside of his former band were with The Chemical Brothers (see the excellent "Setting Sun") where he was loose and raw, and able to draw from the entirety of rock music's blueprint. Here, all we get are bland, mid-tempo, acoustic rock songs with just enough studio effects and just enough harmonies to mask the staleness of Gallagher's songwriting. There are some lovely moments on the record, most notably lead single "The Death of You and Me" and "Broken Arrow", a light shuffling rocker that echoes some of his best Oasis work. But sometimes it's hard to remember that Noel Gallagher was once one of the best songwriters of his generation.