Former Oasis guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher talks to GuitarWorld.com about his upcoming solo album, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

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Yeah, the two Guitar World employees who attended your listening session last night said you told them there was only one guitar solo on the entire album. I was going to ask you that today; it’s interesting.

It wasn’t a conscious decision. I didn’t realize it until my friend pointed it out to me. And I was like, “Wow.” It's strange doing the songs live because the bits of brass sections -- well, obviously we can’t do that live, so we’ve just go to …

Do an acoustic-type thing?

No, just got to work out different instrumentation for those bits so live is going to be kind of vastly different. There you go.

When you’re writing these songs, are you able to let your mind do what you want it to do for each track -- because there was no bass or guitar?

Well, I afforded myself a very, very rare luxury, which was you’d start on the first of whenever it was and you’d work to a set date where you’d finish and then you’ve go the finished thing in your hand. Then only after listening to it for a few months, you’d think, “Well, I could have done that a little better.” Whereas with this, I finished all the tracks -- did everything -- then I had six months off. I spent that six months listening to it every day on headphones and was mentally making notes on what would make it better. Then four months down the line, other ideas would pop into my head, whereas when I got to mixing it I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. It was a luxury I have never had.

So do you know when a song is done?

No. Like, I know when it's done, but the more you listen to things the more you get another idea that can pop into your head, but it might be finished then so you’re like, “Oh fuck.” Whereas with this I’ve kind of taken a great piece of time off in the middle and just listened to it. Mentally make notes about how I could get it back. That’s why this sounds the best of all the albums I’ve made. I wouldn’t change a single thing.

That has to be a pretty good feeling. Is it the melody or something else that makes you know something’s good?

It’s a melody. What makes it good is the chords and the melody. But what makes it great is if you’ve got great words. A lot of the time I don’t get that hung up about words, so it’s a bonus if the words are great. On this record a lot of the lyrics, I really like them. It never really dawned on me until I haven’t written any of the lyrics out because I remember them all. So I’ve never actually had to commit anything to paper at all, even when I was singing in the studio.

Dave Sardy was going, “Where’s the lyric sheet?” And I was like, “I haven’t gotten any.” And he’s like, “Where are all the words?” And I went, “They’re up there.” [Pointing at his head] And he’s like, “Well, what if you forget them?” I said, “I won’t forget them.” And I would step to the mic and I haven’t forgotten them. So there’s my record. I have to send it to my publishers and they say, “Where are they lyrics?” So I have to type them out because only after I start to type them out I realize what I was singing. But the melody is the most important thing. Because the melody is what pulses in your fucking heart. The lyrics go to the brain. The melody is like the thing that you whistle on the way home.

This morning on the subway I said to myself, "I’m going to listen to the 'The Masterplan' " one last time, just to see if I’m totally wrong about it sounding unfinished. It still just cycles in my brain over and over and over again. Even like the piano at the end and that stuff just sticks in your brain.

You mean, like the little [sings the piano notes at the end of the song].

Yeah, that.

I know what you mean. Glad I wrote those songs. [Laughs]

Do you think having a baby has changed you as a songwriter?

I think I’m a better songwriter than I was 10 years ago. I don’t know. See, I don’t have to write words for other people now. That’s quite liberating to know these words are for me and they come from me. So I don’t have any bones about singing them. Whereas when you write for someone else, it’s all about compromise. I know I can deliver these words in a way that a singer I had written them for couldn’t possibly understand. 'Cause if I’m writing a song about something I’ve experienced or I’ve seen, then to write it and give it to someone else they’re only going to sing it from their perception.

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