JUST ANOTHER RAINBOW – IS IT REALLY A BIG DEAL?
LIAM GALLAGHER & JOHN SQUIRE RELEASE THE FIRST TASTE OF THEIR ICONIC COLLABORATION | By Holly Pimlott
Combining the iconic powerhouse that is Liam Gallagher and the star-quality that John Squire possesses – what more could you want from their track Just Another Rainbow.
In his first introduction to Squire – aged just 16 attending a Stone Roses gig at International 2 in Manchester, 1989 – Gallagher described the experience as ‘simply life-changing’. 35 years later, the admiration is still very much present;
‘I think John’s a top songwriter. Everyone always bangs on about him as a guitarist, but he’s a top songwriter too, man, no two ways about it as far as I’m concerned… It’s good to see him back writing songs, and fucking good ones too.’
Liam Gallagher
Opening with the iconic, psychedelic guitar sound we are so used to hearing from Squire – on first listen it would be silly not to expect this to be a Roses or Seahorses track. However, when met with the classic Liam style vocals – it becomes apparent that this track is the product of two of the greatest musicians of their generation. With the infectious melodies reminiscent of I Am The Resurrection combined with the passion and intensity of Love Spreads – it is clear this track can only come from the hands of John Squire. The style of the track (written by Squire) seems to be nothing like any of Liam’s previous work – making the song stand out effortlessly with his discography and potentially introduce us to another stylistic era of Gallagher’s future work.
“To me the most obvious take on ‘Just Another Rainbow’ is that it’s about disappointment, and the sentiment is that you never get what you really want. But I don’t like to explain songs, I think that’s the privilege of the listener, it’s whatever you want it to be. To me, it’s also one of the most uplifting tracks we’ve made together, which is weird.”
John Squire
It would take the Oasis frontman and the Roses’ guitarist another 4 years to meet after 1989, when both artists were recording together in Monmouth, Wales: Oasis beginning their debut album, what would become Definitely Maybe and The Stone Roses deep into their sessions of their second album A Second Coming. From this first interaction alone, the iconic relationship between the pair seemed inevitable when Squire declared Definitely Maybe would be something special within the first few opening bars of Rock ‘N’ Roll Star. This friendship would continue into later years, when Squire’s band The Seahorses would tour with Oasis and furthermore write Love Me And Leave Me with Gallagher for his post-Roses project. However, it wasn’t until Squire joined Gallagher on stage at his monumental Knebworth show in 2022 to perform a rendition of Champagne Supernova together that the prospect of collaboration was substantiated.
After 3 songs were proposed to Liam by John (Gallagher describing them as ‘all mega’), the work then moved from Squire’s studio in Macclesfield to LA for a further 3 weeks of recording and writing sessions with producer Greg Kurstin playing bass on the record and drummer Joey Waronker (Beck and REM). The musical intuition shared by both parties was so natural – the duo felt they had always been in a band together.
With the prospect of new music on the horizon and the question of potential shows to accompany – Just Another Rainbow is here in all its glory – available to stream and purchase on limited 7” vinyl.
We hope you enjoy the track as much as we do – trust us, it’s insane.
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