‘A BRITPOP RENAISSANCE’ | THE COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR IS HERE
LIAM GALLAGHER AND JOHN SQUIRE JOIN FORCES FOR THE ALBUM WE NEVER KNEW WE NEEDED
What can only be described as a Britpop renaissance – John Squire and Liam Gallagher put their heads together to form the supergroup of all supergroups.
Nostalgic in Squire’s musical nods to his previous works such as The Stone Roses (self-titled) and Do It Yourself (The Seahorses), this album is guaranteed to appeal to any lover of the three-stripe, bucket hat era of the 90s – where the works of Squire majorly dominated the soundtrack to many people’s lives.
Initially, singles ‘Just Another Rainbow‘ and ‘Liverpool To Mars‘ provide a sound that many would call ‘a proper bit of indie’ – however in full the album explores a multitude of sub genres and stylistic influences of Squire over the years of his ridiculously successful career. ‘The Wheel‘ stands out as a track that severely encapsulates Squire’s dirty style during the Stone Roses’ sophomore album A Second Coming. Whilst lyrically slightly more basic, Squire’s undoubted raw talent shines within the filthy, grunge tones you’d expect of arguably one of the greatest guitarists of his generation. Furthermore, tracks such as opening number ‘Raise Your Hands‘, ‘Mars To Liverpool‘ and ‘Love You Forever‘ transport you back to the golden age of the 90s, where fans across the world were intoxicated with Britpop fever – driven largely by the works of Oasis and The Stone Roses. It seems inevitable that the hands of Squire and the voice of Gallagher will only reincarnate this musical obsession of the Britpop genre once again.
It cannot go unsaid that the voice of Gallagher was also crucial to the craft of this album; whilst lyrically not works of his own, Gallagher adopts the sound of the record like a child of his own and beautifully accompanies Squire’s talent with his own. Whilst 30 years on from the debut of his own iconic voice in the world of music, Gallagher’s vocals still remain as strong and iconic as ever – charrioting through this record on the back of the ever capable driving force of Squire.
Birthed within the red bricks of Squire’s studio in Macclesfield – with the air of Manchester still heavy in the lungs of both musicians, it’s hard to believe that this perfectly-crafted record was created from an initial promise of Gallagher to record a handful of demos, which quickly became a catalogue of tracks simply too good to be left unheard by the world.
Speaking on his work with Squire – Gallagher says, ‘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. There’s not enough of his music out there, whether it’s with the Roses or himself. It’s good to see hun back writing songs and fucking good ones.’
Set to embark on a UK tour in March, exclusively showcasing the tracks of the record live – we can only express our deepest condolences to those who missed out on tickets, as if the live shows live up to the incredible standard of the album, you are in for a treat.
With this project stemming from his first interaction with Squire – who would’ve guessed a then 16-year-old Gallagher (witnessing his first ever Roses’ gig in Manchester in 1989) would go on to work with his then idol, that also greatly influenced his own successful discography. Whilst the world works in funny ways such as these, we can only be thankful that it has brought together two of the biggest talents in the industry and allowed this incredible album to be one we can enjoy today.
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