Noel Gallagher releases new single featuring Johnny Marr ‘Pretty Boy’
Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds have released a new single, the atmospheric ‘Pretty Boy’. The new material is arguably one of the darkest songs he’s ever released, driven by an almost motorik beat augmented by a droning bassline and some spooky-sounding keys. Adding to the excitement is the presence of former Smiths man Johnny Marr on guitar, helping to raise the bar of his friend’s songs yet again.
The song is layered and well-produced, as is expected, but musically, it seems as if Gallagher might be about to cast off the Ennio Morricone-inspired work for a new style that foregoes orchestral moves for guitar-driven pieces.
Just last week, Gallagher teased his new album with the High Flying Birds, which is the long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s Who Built The Moon? Notably, in 2021 he released a best of album, Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021), which marked a decade as a solo artist. However, with the release of ‘Pretty Boy’, he’s confirmed that he’s not going anywhere just yet.
Of their new cut, Gallagher explained: “For this new record it was the first thing I wrote, the first thing I demoed and the first thing I finished, so it’s only right that it’s the first thing people get to hear.”
He continued: “Massive shout out to my mainest man Johnny Marr for taking it somewhere special. Oh … and watch out for a cameo from me in the video … first one to spot me wins a bag of Flamin’ Hot Wotsits Giants!!”
Elsewhere, when speaking to the Daily Star for their Wired column back in May this year, Gallagher revealed that he attempted to impersonate the late David Bowie when working on his new album. He explained that for ‘Pretty Boy’: “I’d sit up late at night doing [Bowie’s] voice, ‘If this song sounds like David Bowie, then I’m going to sing it like David Bowie until I’ve written it'”.
It doesn’t sound like David Bowie, but it is a stark departure from much of Gallagher’s oeuvre, meaning that we have more cause to be excited and intrigued about what he has in store than anything he’s done in a long time.
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