Liam Gallagher, “C’mon You Know.”

Liam Gallagher has always leaned in to the Britpop aesthetic, with a Beatles-esque foundation that the former Oasis and Beady Eye vocalist has built a legacy upon for decades. While Gallagher relies on that tried and true formula on C’Mon You Know, his third studio effort, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few surprises thrown in along the way.

Gallagher recently said that he hasn’t seen his brother in more than a decade, but that doesn’t mean he goes it alone on the new record. On his first album since 2017’s As You Were, he recruited the likes of the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.

In a recent interview with NME, Gallagher called being a solo artist “boring,” one of the reasons he might be tapping into the collaborative spirit on his latest work.

The first left turn comes in the opening notes of “More Power,” which features a performance by the St. Andrew’s Cathedral School Choir. The melodic intro, sung over a lightly strummed guitar, echoes that of The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” though that’s where the comparisons end. Koenig checks in on bass on the song.

“The cuts they never really heal, just enough to stop the bleed,” Gallagher sings. The track is introspective, momentum-building and bluesy.

“Diamond In the Dark” has a tight, in-the-pocket blues rock feel, with Gallagher’s vocals sitting supremely at the forefront. The song slips into a slick, rhythmic bridge with a light fuzz-tone guitar. It naturally transitions into “Don’t Go Halfway,” which sounds a lot more like the Beatles. Sonically, it falls somewhere between garage rock and a spacey wall-of-sound feeling. The fun intro to this song sounds like it’s being played in reverse!

The title track is a gospel rocker, with handclaps driving the beat and The Music Confectionary Choir adding the holy harmonies into the mix.

The surprisingly uplifting “Too Good for Giving Up” is an earnest piano-driven song with all the ingredients for a bombastic power ballad. “Look how far you’ve come/ Stronger than the damage done/ Step out of the darkness unafraid,” Gallagher sings.

“It Was Not Meant to Be,” meanwhile, tries to accomplish a number of things at once. Vocally, the melody is in line with Gallagher’s Beatles-influenced sound, but a spacey chopped-up drumbeat and a bright acoustic backdrop combine for a bit of a clash. Ultimately, the ingredients work together for there sonic stew.

“Everything’s Electric” jumps off the page immediately, featuring a drumming cameo by Dave Grohl. It’s urgent and demands your attention. Grohl’s work behind the kit, crossed with Gallagher’s direct vocal delivery, combine for one of the most effective moments on the record. The album dampens on “World’s In Need,” an orchestral rocker that mixes in a Americana-sounding acoustic stomp. The cinematic “Moscow Rules” then strips things back entirely with an eerie piano melody and a heavy dose of strings—and even a saxophone.

Liam Gallagher then pulls back to basics to start “I’m Free,” a four-on-the-floor retro rocker that later becomes a spacey trippy tune. It bounces back and forth between the two worlds before Gallagher drives things home, throwing in some punk rock attitude.

“You’re a soul prisoner taking in the info wars,” he sings, clearly directing his attention at the viewers of Alex Jones.

“Better Days” switches things up again. Starting with some strings overlaid with a synth melody, it quickly subsides as a Madchester baggy drum-and-bass melody takes over. The track is dynamic and soaring, veering just short of identity crisis. “Oh Sweet Children” concludes the album about where you’d expect Gallagher to do so—a bold piano-driven ballad that recalls Oasis.

C’mon You Know works to achieve many things, and much of the time, it succeeds. The album draws upon generations of musical history. This oftentimes makes for a clash of sounds that work together here even if they otherwise wouldn’t belong together. The ride is fun.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.