Liam Gallagher

★★★★ C’mon You Know WARNER. CD/DL/LP

Third solo album tweaks the formula but keeps the melodies soaring.

Liam Gallagher – at least on the surface – has of course never been short on self-assuredness, but even still there’s real creative confidence on display here, likely fuelled by the two Number 1 LPs that preceded it. If the palette of influences has been expanded, it’s to further explore different shades of Gallagher favourites such as The Stone Roses (Don’t Go Halfway) and The La’s (The World Is In Need), along with trippier touches and even a successful diversion into dub. Lyrically, on the cusp of his 50th birthday, Gallagher is more reflective and confessional – “Mother, I’ll admit that I was angry for too long”, he offers on opener More Power. Elsewhere, Too Good For Giving Up is a top-drawer ballad (co-written with Cherry Ghost’s Simon Aldred), while Dave Grohl collaboration Everything’s Electric is one of many rocking highpoints. Another Number 1 surely beckons.