Track Of The Day: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Needless to say, I am very excited by the upcoming arrival of the second solo album from Noel Gallagher, and my excitement has just increased after hearing the brand new single 'Ballad Of The Mighty I'. The song also features Smiths legend Johnny Marr. "He just arrived with two guitars and a bag of effects pedals" says Noel, "And I have to say, he’s unbelievable. He’s way up there, on another level to the rest of us. The result is a burst of energy that helped make 'Ballad Of The Mighty I' one of the best songs I've ever written."

The track is released on February 23rd, a week before the album 'Chasing Yesterday' arrives. The LP was produced by Noel himself: “I didn’t like it to be honest" said Noel regarding producing solo for the first time, "I’d taken it to my producer, Dave Sardy, who has worked with me for the last 10 years and for whatever reasons he couldn’t do it… I enjoyed the freedom with it but I didn’t enjoy managing the sessions. The end product is great but it was a pain in the arse,” he said. Noel described the album's sound as “very eclectic... You could take a pair of tracks and play them together and think, ‘fucking hell, he’s gone insane, what’s he done there’ but then you could take another pair of tracks and think ‘well it sounds like a rock ‘n’ roll album’” said Gallagher. “I don’t think it’s one kind of thing or another. But I think it’s good though. Don’t think Spandau Ballet, think Pink Floyd.”