They’re back, then. Two years, millions of sales, a thousand tabloid column inches of wild speculation, a few fights and two Knebworth shows since their last album, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, and the most famous British brothers since the Charltons finally have a new single out. If you own a radio you’ll have already heard “D’You Know What I Mean?”’s seven sprawling minutes of anthemic psychedelia. You’ll also know that it’s Oasis’ most ambitious work to date, and amongst their most satisfying.
“Yeah,” agrees its author, Noel, as he watches his brother, the singer and rock’n’roll star, being snapped, “I just wish the rest of the album sounded like that. It’s good, but the next one will be better.”
Well, the guitarist is a bit grumpy right now. He’ll cheer up later with the assistance of a couple of orange Hoochs, though, and talk proudly of how Oasis’ forthcoming album, Be Here Now, is a mixture of the best aspects of their previous two albums. He’ll explain about how it’s the third and final chapter in the first part of the Oasis story and how he plans to radically overhaul the band’s sound for the next album. He’ll confidently outline his future strategy, talk honestly about how close Oasis came to splitting last year, and about all the rest of their recent history too – confirming or denying all relevant gossip – and offer his opinion on everything from press intrusion and drugs to God and Goldie. Right now, though, he’s just going to finish his sandwich.
Liam, meanwhile, is in fine fettle. A constant whirl of movement and jabber, he’s a bit like The Fast Show character who reckons everything’s brilliant. Only he’s not so sure that everything is brilliant.
“Do you like sleeping?” he asks out of the blue. Er, yeah. “I fucking hate sleeping, me. Boring! I wish I didn’t have to sleep, it’s such a waste of time. I’d rather be up, living.”
“But,” says one of his entourage, “what about when you’re in bed with your woman and holding her tight, that’s all right, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” argues Liam, “but then you fall asleep and it makes no difference. You’re off to the land of fucking nod, dreaming of fucking dinosaurs and Manchester. I’d rather be out, except I can’t even do that at the moment. I get agoraphobia sometimes when I’m out.
“Like, I went to Oxford Street the other day to buy a suit and I got the fear. I was surrounded by people asking me for things so I sacked the suit and jumped in a cab and nailed the doors down. It’s bad, man. If I’m pissed, though, it’s OK. I can monkey about with them and get on with business. That’s the trick. Always be a little bit pissed.”
He shrugs and wanders over to join his brother having his photo taken. As they stand together, Liam starts singing “I Can’t Stand The Rain”. By Tina Turner.
“You what?” says Noel.
“Tina Turner is top!”
“What, even ‘Private Dancer’?”
“Top tune!”
“It’s shit! What about ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’?”
“Top fucking tune!”
“It’s shit!”
“‘River Deep Mountain High’! Top tune!”
“Ah,” grimaces Noel, “you’re right. That is a top tune.”
A few minutes later Liam wanders back.
“Right,” he says, “are we going to have this interview? I’m mad for a bit of chat.”