Gone is producer David Holmes, the DJ who encouraged Noel Gallagher to explore his trippier side on 2017's Who Built the Moon? His replacement is Paul Stacey, an engineer who has been by Noel's side since Oasis' Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, a change that guarantees that Council Skies sounds slightly like a retreat to the earliest days of the High Flying Birds, where Gallagher prized tasteful renditions of his sturdy tunes. That shift in musical direction is slightly deceptive. Underneath its handsome veneer, Council Skies demonstrates that Gallagher learned some tricks during his time wandering in the psychedelic wilderness, figuring out how to add enough color and texture to his arrangements so they don't seem cautious or stuffy. It's a subtle difference but an important one, letting the songs on Council Skies breathe without drifting into the distance. The change is evident from the start, when the strummed acoustic guitars at the core of "I'm Not Giving Up Tonight" get decorated with a delicate piano that provides a bed for strings and vocals that come in by the chorus; it's within the realm Gallagher etched out with the first High Flying Birds album yet softer and richer, absent of the silvery monochrome that characterized the debut. While much of Council Skies does find Gallagher mining a midtempo vein, he's clever enough to offer enough variety in execution to give the record momentum. "Dead to the World" has a cinematic lushness, while "Easy Now" skillfully brings the celestial ballads of Pink Floyd down to earth. All these expert iterations on his signature stately pop tune help the departures stand out: with its skittering drum machine, "Pretty Boy" isn't a million miles away from the Cure, "Open the Door, See What You Find" pulsates to a candied psychedelic swirl, "Council Skies" carries a sense of urgency in its swinging rhythm, and "Love Is a Rich Man" is a buoyant Motown stomp driven by a gigantic guitar twang. The way these splashes of color and invention intertwine with the carefully sculpted ballads results in a testament to Gallagher's enduring craft that's unusually satisfying. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine