Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have finally released the much-talked-about Robert Smith remix of their lead single, ‘Pretty Boy’.
Gallagher had previously teased that he’d spent some time with The Cure frontman both inside and outside of the studio in the lead-up to this new album, Council Skies, revealing that the fellow alt-rock and Britpop icon had even done his own twist on ‘Pretty Boy’, which released back in October 2022.
Speaking to Radio X in January, the former Oasis man told Dan O’Connell he doesn’t usually go for collaborations, at least not on his own music, but after noting that the track sounds like The Cure, he simply asked himself: “wonder if [Smith] does remixes… wonder how easy it’d be to get hold of him?”
Cut to just a couple of emails later, “it turns out it wasn’t that difficult” and before he knew it, he had a song with The Smiths’ Johnny Marr playing the guitar and remixed by Robert Smith. Two British rock legends for the price of one.
As Noel went on to explain, Smith “loved” the track and while he may have thought achieved a ‘Cure-esque’ vibe on the first attempt, he admitted that “the remix sounds exactly like The Cure”.
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The 55-year-old singer-songwriter insisted that he’d “been fan of The Cure since [he] was at school” and that he’d recently seen them perform an “amazing” set at Wembley arena, reiterating: “they’re very, very good”.
He called Robert Smith simply a “lovely man” and as for the Blackpool-born musician himself, as it happens, he had similarly positive things to say about Noel and ‘Pretty Boy’ too.
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Speaking in a statement released shortly after the remix dropped, the 63-year-old said: “I was surprised and delighted when Noel asked me to remix this gorgeous song, and I had a lot of fun slowing it down and spacing it out”.
You can listen to Robert Smith’s remix of ‘Pretty Boy’ in full below:
We think we might prefer the remix — no offence, Noel.
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He went on to detail how “Cure drummer Jason Cooper gave [him] a great vibey drum track to play along with – and the rest just phased into place under the starry sky of my distant moon…” Never has there been a more Robert Smith sentence uttered.
She wrote: “Today our hearts were broken forever! After a year long battle with cancer, it finally got the better of you, our amazingly strong and gorgeous boy.
“You were such a kind, loving and beautiful soul and I will never understand why you were taken from us? It was far too soon. You had so much more love to offer to this world.
“You never once got angry, complained or felt sad. You were a true warrior throughout and fought so hard until the very end.
Graeme Park’s son Oliver has died at the age of 18, the DJ has announced. Credit: Instagram, @graemepark
“We will love and miss you every single day for the rest of our lives, Ol.
“The power and love we feel from your guiding spirit is all around us and WILL provide us and Ben, your twin, with the strength to carry on. Especially when times get too tough.
“We love you Ol, so, so much and even though you’re not here in your physical body, the strength you provide us with and your loving strong Spirit will be with us always!!!!
“We love you so much, Oliver Park and thank you for sharing 18 years of your precious life with us.”
Graeme’s post drew in thousands of messages of love and support, including from Vernon Kay, Sacha Lord, and DJ Paulette.
He shared last night: “Thank you for all of your kind, supportive words regarding my son. Much appreciated.
“I won’t be DJing in Huddersfield, London or Manchester this weekend, there will be no radio shows and there may be a delay to recent merchandise orders too. Please bear with me. Back soon.”
Featured image: Instagram, @graemepark
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The View, Brooke Combe, Corella and more join the Neighbourhood Weekender 2023 lineup
Danny Jones
More acts have joined the Neighbourhood Weekender lineup for 2023 and as well as some big names, it looks like there’s going to be even more Manc music on show this year. You love to see it.
Neighbourhood 2023 is already shaping up to be an absolute belter with the likes of Pulp, The Kooks, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbot, The Wombats, Anne Marie and countless other huge others already announced for this year.
But if there’s one thing we know about the Warrington weekender it’s that there are always more surprises down the line, right up until the last minute, and to whet your appetite for the festival favourite.
The latest from the organisers is that several new artists are now joining the NBHD lineup, such as Scottish stars and veritable indie veteran The View, fellow compatriot Brooke Combe (one of the most exciting new soloists we’ve heard in a long time), The Goa Express from Burnley and 14 other acts.
One of the names we’re most excited to see playing on the Sunday are local lads, Corella. Named after an indigenous Australian bird, the rock and indie quarter are former BIMM students who are quickly becoming one of the most talked-about groups in the city.
The Manc musicians went on to survive lockdown together, writing new tunes and even hosting virtual live gigs called ‘Club Corella’ every weekend throughout the pandemic. God, we don’t half love this kind of graft, especially in hard times. Well in, lads.
Since then, they’ve gone from strength to strength and now, fresh from their sellout gig at Gorilla — which they hailed as “a dream come true” and a “moment we will never forget” — they’ll be following it up with a full Weekender slot in just a couple month’s time.
If their performance at Gorilla and at last year’s Neighbourhood Festival in the city is anything to go by, they’re going to absolutely smash it.
Neighbourhood Weekender 2023’s lineup is sounding more and more like it could go down as a year you don’t want to miss.
The weekend of gigs kicks at the beautiful Victoria Park in Warrington on 27 May and last until the following Sunday. However, to make things even better there’s also going to be a massive warm-up show featuring The Stone Roses’ Ian Brown, Happy Mondays and more.
Danny Jones -
9th March 2023 
