There have been some snippets released online, but ahead of its official release in its entirety GIITTV has been privileged to hear the debut single of Liam Gallagher and John Squire.
Even all these decades later, the part that Squire played as The Stone Roses’ guitarist and Gallagher as frontman of Oasis still means that their subsequent work will be newsworthy. As the music industry seems to love an anniversary, let’s acknowledge that it’s 35 years this year since The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut and 30 years since Oasis’ first album, Definitely Maybe and move on.
‘I…I might have known, this would be just another rainbow,’ Liam sings at the start of the song. It’s very psychedelic, not surprisingly. To these ears, it evokes ‘Don’t Stop‘ from the Roses’ debut, in spirit, if not in composition. Perhaps it’s the guitars that sound almost as if they are being played backwards. The meeting of one of Madchester’s (sic) finest guitarists and Britpop’s most famous frontman evoke the best of the spirit of those two movements, which soundtracked the lives of many who grew up in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s, even as our hairlines grey (and recede…)
While it’s not a debut for either act, it stakes its claim on your ears with intent, prowling for the first eighty seconds, before the drums kick in. At this point, it doesn’t speed up but the declaration of intent becomes full-blown. This is a reminder of why Squire’s guitar work was so acclaimed, why Gallagher’s vocals never lacked for confidence. I have long-maintained that a debut single should feel like a manifesto; here the duo set out their stall for the rest of the music they have worked on.
Is this first single stunningly original? Perhaps not, but if the rest of the album is up to this quality, then even those who may have subsequently cherry-picked the highlights from their careers will be in for a treat. It’s perhaps hard to completely listen in isolation from their previous work, but it’s an excellent track standing on its own. While it may not win over those who were not previously fans of their work, it cannot fail to delight the many fans of both acts, and keep them away from the heritage trail for a bit longer.
‘Just Another Rainbow‘ will be released on January 5th through Warner.
Speaking about the track, John Squire said: ‘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.’
Liam Gallagher added: ‘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 him back writing songs and fucking good ones. The melodies are mega and then the guitars are a given. But I think even when you take all the fucking guitars off, you can play the songs all on acoustic and they’ll all still blow your mind.’
Although Gallagher and Squire first met back in 1993 when they were recording Definitely Maybe and The Second Coming respectively. Their friendship continued in the subsequent years, notably with the pair writing ‘Love Me and Leave Me’ for Squire’s later band The Seahorses, who also toured as guests to Oasis. But when John jumped on stage during Liam’s gargantuan Knebworth Park show for climactic performances of ‘Champagne Supernova’ that the prospect of working together on something more substantial became a reality.
John sent Liam an initial three songs (Liam’s review? “All mega”) and then quickly wrote some more, with the duo then collaborating remotely and sending each other reference points, including Jimi Hendrix, Sex Pistols, Faces, Bob Marley, and perhaps a little surprisingly, The Bee Gees.
From thereon in, the project took on a life of its own. Liam arrived at John’s Macclesfield studio and vowed to complete vocals for two demo recordings each day, a promise he stuck to, and soon enough they had a catalogue of killer songs to choose from. From there it was off to Los Angeles for three weeks of sessions with revered producer Greg Kurstin who plays bass on the record, with drums courtesy of Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M., Atoms for Peace).
There will be much more new music to come – and there could well be shows, too, but for now, there’s a killer single making its way.
A snippet may be heard below
