I suppose when two UK icons collaborate with each other, we should give a try to the tune. Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher have recorded a new song together, ‘Ballad of the Mighty I’ and it could be the beginning of a new era for both men. Actually Gallagher declared to the Guardian that he wanted this to happen for a long time:
‘I tried to get him to play on the last album but it never happened. So when I put this track together and knew he would be perfect for it I called him and asked if I could send him the rough mix. He said: ‘No, I don’t want to hear it. I’m just going to react to it on the day.’ He didn’t even want any pointers. Well, that was brave of him. He just arrived with two guitars and a bag of effects pedals. 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 Mighty I one of the best songs I’ve ever written.’
He convinced me, so I listened to the music, which came with a video, despite the fact that Noel totally rejects the idea:
‘I fucking hate videos. I hate the fact they cost a fortune’, he said to the Guardian. ‘I hate the fact you’ve got to be there at 8 in the morning. I hate the fact you don’t leave until 8 the next morning. I don’t like the fact that the people who’re making them think they’re making Apocalypse Now and everything is the most important – ‘this the really important shot’ – fucking bollocks.’ I have always found him very funny and quite unbearable at the same time
At first I couldn’t really recognize the Gallagher’s famous mark till I reach the multi-vocal-harmonies of the chorus and then it was back to Oasis’ soaring voices and dynamic powerchords… there’s a little bit of everything in this song, at the beginning, it’s all melancholic piano ballad, with strong drumming but almost somber, then it is triumphant alt-rock with giant hooks,… although not totally memorable. The two guys seem to get along very well, and why not? They both were in very successful bands they are now alienated from, and they have the same haircuts!
The single will be released on February 23rd, just before the album ‘Chasing Yesterday’ hits the shelves. It will be Gallagher’s High Flying Birds second studio album. Watch the video below till the end, there is a Coldplay/Chris Martin joke.
