Noel Gallagher Has a New Solo Album Coming Out Next Month. That Means He’s Begun to Talk.

Noel’s new album with The High Flying Birds, Chasing Yesterday, is set to come out March 2 (March 3 in North America), which means it’s time for him to start talking about things. And the man does talk. From The Quietus.

“I’m not a ranter. I’m not!” At precisely one minute to our allotted meeting time of noon, Noel Gallagher appears in his neat, white Marylebone management offices. He’s clad in classic Gallagher attire: blouson leather jacket done up to the neck, dark jeans and Playmobil mod haircut, now with added white Miliband smudge. A minute later, he’s off. He’s never not on. Shove a Dictaphone under his Burnage nose at any random moment, and you’ll get something.

He gives away plenty today: full details of his night on the tiles with a bunking-off Morrissey, people who shout at him on the Tube, and lots on his current bugbear, the blandness of modern music. But isn’t he partly to blame for that? After all, Oasis’ big arms-in-the-air sentiments begat Travis, begat Coldplay, begat the likes of Ed Sheeran, who Gallagher was sad to hear was selling out Wembley Arena while Kasabian and the Arctic Monkeys were not. “Well, yeah,” he shrugs, before narrowing his eyes; he’s not easy when challenged. “I know what you’re saying – it’s the same kind of thing but with an acoustic guitar, yeah. But that’s the key thing. Ours were electric guitars, and we were from the streets. There you go.” He leans forward, raises those eyebrows, case closed. “The point I was making was that rock bands weren’t selling it out. Poor little Ed just got his name dragged into it and what stood us apart, other than those big emotional songs, were us as characters. It was the attitude in which it was delivered.”

Keep reading. I’m hoping to get to Noel when he appears at Canadian Music Week in May.