Noel Gallagher has announced details of his new album, Who Built The Moon? The album alters the legendary singer-songwriter’s course following a bracing, two-year creative collaboration with renowned producer, DJ and composer, David Holmes. Released on Friday 24 November 2017 on Sour Mash, the keenly anticipated follow-up to the platinum-selling, Chasing Yesterday (2015) is set for prompt live treatment as Gallagher and band announce a 2018 World Tour.

Live arena shows start in April 2018 across the UK and go on general sale at 9am, this Friday 29 September 2017 with details, links to purchase tickets and tour updates available at www.noelgallagher.com

David Holmes, says of the record: “People are going to be surprised. I think people love Noel and they’re desperate for him to make a really big, bold, up-tempo beast of a record – a lot of Noel’s music is quite mid-tempo. This one is fun.”

How would Gallagher respond to control room commands to: “Stop ‘playing’ guitar!” and “Play me a guitar solo you can dance to!”?  Secure in the knowledge that the man challenging him had a vision to match his undimmed ambition, he entered the same, inventive space. The Man Who Built The Moon crystallises an outsider’s view of the partnership, flooded with lush orchestration and a sense of looming drama. It is the sound of an experienced songwriter supported by an accomplice similarly striving meticulously for perfection, as Gallagher reveals:

“We took a keyboard riff we liked from an unused track and added chords. A year later we came to deal with it as a song and when we got to the chorus, David kept asking me to write a new one….again and again and again. I was ready to strangle him. The one that you hear is the eighth attempt and, you know what? The annoying thing is he was right.”

On blue-touch-paper track, Fort Knox, barely a note is sung by Gallagher, instead toying with euphoric incantations, while It’s A Beautiful World bubbles with progressive, ambient electronica. Black & White Sunshine’s 60s, psychedelic pop DNA canvasses for more traditionalist votes while Holy Mountain is a game of ‘spot the obscure sample’ amidst a joyous wall of sound. Symptomatic of the unhurried back and forth between him and Holmes, Gallagher says of the latter track:

“David played me the sample, so I worked out the chords and we demoed just a few, short minutes of it, taking it away on tour and playing with it. When it became a song back in Belfast it was so joyous, I just had to do it justice. What’s more joyous than being in love, baby? So, I wrote a song about love and it’s one of the best things that I’ve ever done.”

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ Who Built The Moon? 2018 Tour Dates are announced as follows:

Sun 22 April 2018 – Brighton, Brighton Centre
Tue 24 April 2018 – Glasgow, The SSE Hydro
Wed 25 April 2018 – Aberdeen, BHGE Arena
Fri 27 April 2018 – London, The SSE Arena Wembley
Mon 30 April 2018 – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
Tue 1 May 2018 – Birmingham, Birmingham Arena
Thu 3 May 2018 – Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
Fri 4 May 2018 – Manchester, Manchester Arena
Sun 6 May 2018 – Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
Mon 7 May 2018 – Leeds, First Direct Arena
Wed 9 May 2018 – Belfast, The SSE Arena
Thu 10 May 2018 – Dublin, 3Arena

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: Who Built The Moon? Track Listing:

1. Fort Knox
2. Holy Mountain
3. Keep On Reaching
4. It’s A Beautiful World
5. She Taught Me How To Fly
6. Be Careful What You Wish For
7. Black & White Sunshine
8. Interlude (Wednesday Part 1)
9. If Love Is The Law
10. The Man Who Built The Moon
11. End Credits (Wednesday Part 2)
12. Bonus track: Dead In The Water (Live at RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)