Oasis is back … though not in the manner fans might have hoped for.
Some 11 years after quitting and ultimately breaking up the iconic Britpop band, Noel Gallagher — Oasis’s former lead songwriter and co-vocalist — revealed that he had “stumbled across” one of the band’s “old demos” earlier this week while digging through old CDs out of boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though the track, dubbed Don’t Stop…, isn’t exactly brand new, it was put out as a new Oasis single on Thursday and serves as the band’s first since 2009’s Falling Down.
Its release instilled excitement in fans all across the globe, making them hopeful that it might indicate that a potential Oasis reunion may occur in the near future.
Liam Gallagher — the former lead singer and Noel’s younger brother — however, has implied that he had nothing to do with the recently uncovered track by indirectly responding to his estranged sibling on Twitter.
“Well there’s something missing in this god almighty stew and it’s your brother,” wrote the 47-year-old vocalist. “Your brother. Don’t forget your brother,” he added.
Liam, of course, was referring to the fact that he’s not even included on the demo. That’s right, the nearly five-minute, acoustic track was written and performed instead by Noel, 52.
Sure, he’s known best for hits like Don’t Look Back in Anger, but toward the end of Oasis’s career, Noel sang on a large portion of the band’s material and often took centre stage when Liam wasn’t in the mood to perform.
Seemingly in response to Don’t Stop…, Liam expressed boredom by tweeting “Zzz” (with 196 Zs) only a few hours after the track’s release.
Bonehead, 54, originally co-founded Oasis under a different name (The Rain) in the early 1990s. He eventually left in 1999 and now plays occasionally with the younger Gallagher’s solo band.
“Tofu boy,” of course, was likely Liam’s way of referring to his brother. The Gallaghers are notorious for fighting and insulting each other on a regular basis — even at the height of their musical careers — before they split and went solo.
Last month, Liam, yet again tried his hand at reuniting the band, suggesting they put on a “one-off” charity concert to raise funds for COVID-19 relief efforts.
“Listen, seriously,” he wrote on Twitter. “A lot of people think I’m a c–t and I am a good looking c–t, but once this is put to bed we need to get Oasis back for a one-off gig for charity.
Noel — who frequently dismisses the idea of ever getting back together with his brother — surprisingly expressed thoughts about doing so in an interview with Vogue earlier this month. The verdict, however? Still negative.
“The only other thing I could come up with was burning his house down or smashing his car in,” joked Noel, “but that’s not going to solve anything, is it?”
Don’t Stop… was recorded only once, and that was during a soundcheck in Hong Kong, as suggested by Noel. It was later released as a bootleg, however.
Don’t Stop… is now available through all major streaming platforms.
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