A few months ago, Liam Gallagher gave a boost to expectations for Beady Eye’s newest effort, BE, by calling it “the record Oasis should have made after (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?.” That proved to be something of an overstatement when the album was released in June, but it does have a few very worthwhile moments.
Before going any further, I should probably pause to address the elephant in the room: I am nestling a song from a pretty average but extremely well-known band fronted by British rock-royalty amidst a slew of other daily recommendations by a veritable who’s who of indie up-and-comers worth keeping an eye on. It may seem out of place here, but “Ballroom Figured” is actually a quite beautiful, no-nonsense, acoustic ballad that deserves to be heard. The sentimental opening line, “Did you every loan me that song? / Did you ever know me at all”, seems meant to be sung by Gallagher, his voice sounding as refreshed and youthful as it has in a long time.
Yes, Gallagher displays some borderline horrid lyric writing in the line “And it ain’t what you don’t, but it is what you do”, but other than that, the song shines in almost every sense as some of Oasis’s terrific mid-’90s toned down tunes did. It’s no “Wonderwall” but it just might fool you into thinking it is for a little while.