Liam Gallagher – C’mon You Know

There was a point in the middle of the last decade when Oasis had rather gone out of fashion. According to some, they were to blame for everything from Brexit to the slow death of guitar rock – and couldn’t even rely on a nostalgia-fuelled comeback thanks to the bitter rift between Liam Gallagher and brother Noel that broke up the band.

Liam’s 2017 return as a solo artist was not entirely a surprise. After all, this is a man with the Trumpian gift of creating headlines with tweets and a voice you could patent. But his triumph five years on with a return to Oasis’ Mecca, Knebworth, and his most interesting album yet, C’mon You Know, was. After all Noel, the supposedly talented brother, has remained firmly in the creative doldrums.

It’d be wrong to say C’mon You Know is experimental: it doesn’t abandon the formula that has sparked Liam’s renaissance, which is to hire accomplished songwriters to reimagine the meat and potatoes of Oasis’ better 60s pastiches. But it does feel more confident and willing to take risks within that template.

That’s in part thanks to the contributions of writers including Dave Grohl, Ezra Koenig, Andrew Wyatt and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner – but also an artist who seems more at peace with himself than at any time since Oasis’ 2009 split.

Opener More Power and its child choir clearly take inspiration from the Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, while Better Days channels The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows in a way that mirrors his brother’s collaboration with The Chemical Brothers, Setting Sun. As always with Liam, The Beatles are a regular presence, with more Revolver-inspired shenanigans on Don’t Go Halfway and solo John Lennon vibes on Oh Sweet Children. All influences you might expect, but also garage rock married to Madchester on Diamond in the Dark, a folkiness to Moscow Rules and even hints of dub on the intriguing I’m Free.

An indication of its quality is that its Grohl-aided lead single Everything’s Electric – which sticks to rehashing well-worn Oasis motifs – isn’t among its best, with the anthemic title track a possible candidate for that label instead.

C’mon You Know, then, is an album that will unquestionably delight Liam’s fanbase, with a number of tracks that will have the Knebworth crowd singing along almost as fervently as with Oasis classics. But it’s also proof of an artist who has found a groove that shows he has much more to offer than Britpop nostalgia.

Mark Worgan
Photo: Jordan Curtis Hughes

C’mon You Know is released on 27^th May 2022. For further information or to order the album visit Liam Gallagher’s website here. The album is available in Hi-Res on Qobuz and all the major streaming services.

Watch the video for the single Better Days here: