Noel Gallagher’s latest single, ‘Easy Now’, released earlier this week and just so happens to feature a queen, as actor Milly Alcock stars in the evocative new music video.
The 22-year-old Aussie has already appeared in various movies and TV shows across the UK, US and Australia in her relatively short career, but is undoubtedly best known for playing Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon.
Playing the younger version of the Westerosi princess turned Queen of the seven kingdoms in the Game of Thrones, Alcock is now a more recognisable face than ever
Swapping the courtly robes and fantasy palaces for a hoody, baggy jeans, an oversized jacket and a pair of trainers as she walks around a nondescript urban area, the young actor managed to say quite a lot without us ever hearing her voice.
Out today: Brand new single ‘Easy Now’ is the 2nd track to be taken from the forthcoming album ‘Council Skies’. Watch the official video, starring Milly Alcock, in full here: https://t.co/w6v80zISJvpic.twitter.com/ca2XqpnF2J
Milly Alcock plays the rebellious youth running through the streets of a miscellaneous British town.
While you might have expected co-star Olivia Cooke to be the more likely of the two fictional queens to be approached for the lead role in the iconic Manc musician’s new video now that people are finally realising that she is from Oldham, but her rebellious opposite number in the hit show is equally brilliant.
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Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds announced their fourth studio album, Council Skies, on Tuesday, 17 January and, as you can see, this visualization for this lead single is very much about building from that title.
Based on the title of a book by illustrator and friend Pete McKee, the new record is said to showcase Gallagher reminiscing about what it was like growing up in Manchester. Born in Longsight and raised in Burnage, the council estates of Greater Manchester were all he and brother Liam ever knew.
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While Oasis ultimately moved down to London whilst riding the wave of success and the Britpop era, this album is seemingly about tapping into those northern, working-class surroundings that so many of us are familiar with. The album cover also pays tribute to his beloved Manchester City Football Club:
Speaking in a statement, the 55-year-old said of the project: “It’s going back to the beginning. Daydreaming, looking up at the sky and wondering about what life could be… that’s as true to me now as it was in the early ‘90s. When I was growing up in poverty and unemployment, music took me out of that.”
It only takes you hearing a few of the lyrics to get a taste of the themes undercutting the track and, presumably, the album as a whole: the aspirations of youth, looking to escape the monotony of everyday normality and so on.
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Elsewhere, while Gallagher is obviously fully focused on the new album and the inevitable tour to follow, he was recently asked about that old chestnut: ‘are Oasis ever getting back together?’
However, his answer was a lot more suggestive than usual.
We’re not holding our breath just yet but this is a step in the right direction. 🤞
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ new album, Council Skies, drops on 2 June, 2023 and you can watch the full video for the first official single, ‘Easy Now’, down below.
As is often the case with Noel, it’s an absolutely beautiful track and Milly Alcock gives a powerful performance.
Sankeys nightclub is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s officially happening: iconic local club Sankeys is coming back to Manchester city centre almost a decade on from its gutting closure.
The iconic ‘Sankey’s Soap’ nightlife space – which started out over in Ancoats during the mid-’90s – enjoyed numerous stints during its time in the clubbing world, as well as opening multiple partnered venues in the country and even overseas.
Now, approaching nine years after the shutdown, Sankeys is returning to Manchester in the new year, and Mancs are currently losing their minds.
Whether you are one of those who ‘remember it when’, or someone who sadly missed out on the halcyon days in the old Beehive Mill, we assure you that everyone is in agreement that this is nothing short of massive news…
First teasing the comeback back in July, as our city and the world at large were gripped by ‘Britpop Mania’ 2.0, the largely dormant Instagram account posted: “This week Manchester, and the UK, has been blessed with a homecoming of our very own, Oasis.
“We think Manchester deserves another homecoming… Definitely, maybe?”
The North West corners of the internet and veteran revellers alike were understandably quick to get excited by the potential revival, but nothing else had been said for months – until now.
Confirmed on Tuesday, 25 November, the infamous and storied nightclub’s social media team began by writing, simply: “The Legend Returns” and beckoning “a new era for Sankeys”.
It is still unclear as to where exactly the new and improved club(s) will be, but we do know that the events will be in the city centre. However, we do know we’ll be getting a familiar matrix grid installation as part of the design once again.
They will also be enforcing a strict new no-phones policy, which has become increasingly popular across the scene, thanks to the likes of Amber’s right here in Manchester.
Sankeys first opened in Manchester as "Sankeys Soap" in June 1994.[3] It was so called due to its residence inside Beehive Mill, Ancoats, which once was used to manufacture soap. The basement of the mill was transformed into a club and live music venue#pub#historypic.twitter.com/cnM6Nt23uZ
Sankeys may have remained an active promoter in the days since the building on the corner of Radium and Jersey Street (M4 6JG) closed – going on to become an unsuspecting office development – this will be the first event of the aforementioned next chapter in a flagship venue.
Promising a limited capacity of no more than 500 people, Sankeys is set to make its landmark return on
“We will only be open one night a week on Saturday. There will be no VIP or phones allowed on the dancefloor — everyone is a VIP. People need to stop taking pictures and start dancing to the beat.”
Hordes of clubbers, ravers, students and more are already signing up for early access and general admission tickets for the first two nights on Friday and Saturday, 30-31 January 2026 go on sale at 9am this Friday (28 Nov).
Get ready to grab yours HERE and party like it’s, well, 1994, 2017 – take your pick.
Review | ‘Hopefully!’, you get lucky enough to see the spectacle that is Loyle Carner live
The Manc
The O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester has this week played host to Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner this week, a.k.a. Loyle Carner, as he serenaded adoring listeners with his captivating lyrics, spine-tingling bass and drumlines, as well as his ever-laid-back warmth and charisma.
His stage name is the only spoonerism you’ll ever find in this man’s craft, as every syllable is as intentional and well-placed as the last.
Accompanied by an incredibly talented band and golden production, the night lends itself to a thought-provoking performance that leaves you wanting more. Consider me listening to nothing but this setlist for the foreseeable.
As the rumble of eager, loyal/Loyle – take your pick – listeners awaited his arrival, you could sense what this artist and his poetic music mean to people.
We've seen @LoyleCarner twice this week. We might even go again tonight – yes, he really is that good. 🎤
Opening with ‘in my mind’, just like that, you saw the crowd suddenly holding each other’s hands whilst comfortably sitting in the palm of Carner’s.
Let’s not forget his brilliant band, either, who all got their time in the spotlight and wowed as a collective.
Carner and the crowd definitely gave them the recognition they deserved, with piano solos throwing a blanket of respectful silence and tentative listening over the whole audience.
Loyle’s well-loved and special lyrics were echoed throughout the venue from start to finish.
He insisted (and not for the first time) that there’s “something special about playing in Manchester” – and we couldn’t agree more.
Carner’s vulnerability onstage opens a glowing portal for his listeners to do so as well. He encourages feeling. And as an audience, this is extremely clear in the room. It was a sea of warm embraces, agreeing heads and ignited eyes.
Loyle Carner was just as good on night two at Victoria Warehouse as he was on the first. (Credit: Audio North)
As the setlist crept towards the end, the crowd were not ready to say goodbye as the customary chants of ‘one more song!’ bounced off the Victoria Warehouse walls.
We were then blessed with a solo Loyle, who shared a typically creative and reflective spoken-word Carner special with us.
Without any demand, the crowd fell sweetly silent and absorbed his every word. A poet, pure and simple.
The 31-year-old rapper and wordsmith plays one more night at the venue to round off his mini residency tonight (Tuesday, 25 November 2025); you can try and grab last-minute tickets HERE.
Danny Jones -
19th January 2023 
