It’s been almost three years to the day since Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds released their self-titled debut album, and today, they return with a new single and the announcement of a sophomore LP, Chasing Yesterday. That album title seems so ripe for mockery that I almost wonder if it’s a pre-emptive strike: There’s nothing you can say about Noel Gallagher that he hasn’t said about himself. The single, “In The Heat Of The Moment,” has no relation to the similarly titled Asia song. Instead, it sounds a lot like post-Be Here Now Oasis and/or the last High Flying Birds album. Which is to say, it’s good! Say what you will, but Noel delivers the hooks, and his voice has aged a whole lot better than Liam’s. (Also worth noting: The album opens with a song called “Riverman,” which has no relation to the Nick Drake song “River Man.” And the track “While The Song Remains The Same” has no relation to the Zeppelin album, etc.) According to the press materials, Johnny Marr guests on the album’s closing track, “Ballad Of The Mighty I.” Also according to those materials, “In The Heat Of The Moment” was “inspired by a documentary in which an astronaut said that going into space for the first time feels like touching the face of God. ‘If that’s not an opening line for a song I don’t know what is,’ said Mr. Gallagher.” Of course he knows: “Today is gonna be the day…”; “Maybe I don’t really wannna know how your garden grows…” Yes, Noel Gallagher knows from opening lines. Listen.

Chasing Yesterday tracklist:

01 “Riverman”
02 “In The Heat Of The Moment”
03 “The Girl With X-Ray Eyes”
04 “Lock All The Doors”
05 “The Dying Of The Light”
06 “The Right Stuff”
07 “While The Song Remains The Same”
08 “The Mexican”
09 “You Know We Can’t Go Back”
10 “Ballad Of The Mighty I”

Chasing Yesterday is out 3/2 via Sour Mash.