Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds to soar at Hull Bonus Arena and Leeds First Direct Arena. Bingley and Sheffield gigs too

NOEL Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will play Hull Bonus Arena on August 30 and Leeds First Direct Arena on December 18.

Tickets will be available for special pre-sale on Wednesday for fans who pre-order the forthcoming album Council Skies via the official Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds store at store.noelgallagher.com and on general sale at tix.to/NoelGHFB from 9am on Friday.

Erstwhile Oasis guitarist Gallagher, 55, has released his latest album taster, Dead To The World, ahead of his fourth studio set’s arrival on June 2 on Sour Mash Records.

“By some distance it’s my favourite tune on the album,” he says. “It has this film-noir vibe. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever done before. It’s very melancholic, but I like that. I’m a Gemini – I’m as up as I am down, and the trick is to meet somewhere in the middle and turn that into music.”

The arrival of Dead To The World follows fan excitement over mysterious orchestral clips – filmed by Gallagher at Abbey Road Studios, London – emerging on social media at the beginning of 2023.

Dead To The World turns out to be one of several songs on Council Skies that boast strings arranged by Rosie Danvers, a long-time High Flying Birds collaborator. “Rosie gets what I do,” says Gallagher. “Spending a weekend recording strings in Abbey Road…that’s one of the great privileges in a musician’s life. It sounds majestic.”

Already, Gallagher has issued Pretty Boy and Easy Now as singles from Council Skies. The Cure’s Robert Smith remixed Pretty Boy earlier this month, adding a spaced-out dimension. 

Council Skies is available to pre-order on CD, heavyweight vinyl with bonus 7”, LP picture disc and various digital formats, including a Dolby Atmos spatial audio version. The Robert Smith remix will appear on deluxe limited-edition triple vinyl and 2CD formats that  also will feature a live session version of Live Forever and a Pet Shop Boys remix of Think Of A Number.

A printed handwritten lyric sheet of title track Council Skies will be included with all album pre-orders via the official store at noelgallagher.lnk.to/Councilskiespr.

Gallagher already has announced a summer series of outdoor venue and festival shows for his High Flying Birds, including Bingley Weekender on August 4 and concluding with a September 1 appearance at Sheffield Don Valley Bowl’s Rock’n’ Roll Circus. These will be his first British concerts since performing on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage last June. Box office: noelgallagher.com/live.

The High Flying Birds have confirmed a 26-date USA tour too, co-headlining with Garbage.

Track listing for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ Council Skies deluxe album:

Disc 1:

1. I’m Not Giving Up Tonight
2. Pretty Boy
3. Dead To The World
4. Open The Door, See What You Find
5. Trying To Find A World That’s Been And Gone
6. Easy Now
7. Council Skies
8. There She Blows!
9. Love Is A Rich Man
10. Think Of A Number

Disc 2:

1. Don’t Stop…
2. We’re Gonna Get There In The End
3. Mind Games
4. Pretty Boy (Instrumental)
5. Dead To The World (Instrumental)
6. Council Skies (Instrumental)
7. Think Of A Number (Instrumental)
8. I’m Not Giving Up Tonight (David Holmes Remix)
9. Think Of A Number (Pet Shop Boys Magic Eye 12” Remix)
10. Pretty Boy (Robert Smith Remix)
11. Council Skies (The Reflex Revision)
12. Flying On The Ground (BBC Radio 2 Session, 08.09.2021)
13. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (BBC Radio 2 Session, 08.09.2021)
14. Live Forever (BBC Radio 2 Session, 08.09.2021)