Lou Aimes-Hill is an associate lecturer in Media and Culture. She is currently doing a PhD in popular music.
For many teenagers in the 1990s, Oasis were a key part of growing up. The chart battle between the Manchester rock band and Blur consumed the headlines. This Britpop movement was a cornerstone of the culture optimism in Britain in the 1990s and from the mid to late nineties, ‘Cool Britannia’ set the tone for young music and popular culture fans to consume all things British. Oasis’ immense popularity culminated in two iconic concerts, which saw tens of thousands gather to hear them at Knebworth. Then, in 2009, it all came to an abrupt end with Noel Gallagher’s departure from the group. Ever since then, their fans have been hoping to see the Gallagher brothers reconcile. Now the reunion is finally on with concerts announced for next year.
So what lies in store when we finally see Oasis back on stage for the first time in more than 25 years? What will it mean for British culture and the music industry more widely?
There’s no doubt that nostalgia plays a part in the appeal of this return. For Associate Lecturer in Media and Culture, Lou Aimes-Hill, who is doing a PhD in popular music, there is something very timely about the announcement as a Labour government comes to power again. “You cannot help but feel it is a call back to those times of the New Labour government of 1997 and the rise of Britpop and Cool Britannia – which of course Oasis were poster boys for,” she said.
“Nostalgia was huge during the Covid-19 pandemic. I think to a certain extent we are still seeing some of that because in nostalgia there is comfort. And that's what drove the appeal of it during lockdown. I do think that it is really interesting that after 14 years of a Conservative government in very turbulent times that we happen to be being graced with the presence of the Gallagher brothers again.
“For some people, I think it will bring that hint of Cool Britannia again. I think some people will draw on a nostalgic fondness of British ‘cool’ as a potential boost for the country.
There might be an opportunity to see some Cool Britannia inspired positivity around the landscape of Britain in 2024, harking back to the image of Britpop and Cool Britannia that we had back then. I don't think it will ever reach those heady heights of the 1990s. It was a very, very different time politically. But I do think that we will definitely see a kind of resurgence in Brit culture. So it's a mixture of the two; today's modern Britain mixed with Britpop. I do wonder if it might help to create a global conversation around Britain, and what we have to offer as a nation, that moves beyond Brexit.”
Despite the nostalgia that comes with Oasis’ resurgence, it provides a timely comparison of just how much the music industry has changed since the 1990s. “It very much used to be the case that albums would sell in their millions and that would dictate then where tours went, how long tours were and what money there was for the tours,” said Lou. “These days it's the other way round - major tours drive album sales. Shortly after the announcement, Oasis had three singles and three albums in the top 20 album and singles charts, which they have never had before. The landscape of the music industry has definitely switched and that's mainly down to streaming.”
For the music industry itself though, the return of such a major rock band could herald a whole different sound of music, alongside the inevitable fashion for bucket hats and parka jackets. “I think it will mean that we move into next summer with an aesthetic change and a shift in the style of music that is dominating the charts and streaming services,” said Lou. “This year we've had a summer of music which has been very female-led and very “positive pop” in its orientation - a hugely different sound to the style we would traditionally associate with Oasis.”
Lou hopes that the Oasis reunion and a renewed interest in rock music might help to address the scarcity of band driven music on the whole.
“We have increasingly been noticing a reduction in the amount of groups that are appearing in chart data and that's been happening steadily for a long time now actually,” she said. “But post pandemic and Brexit it’s been really affected. Rehearsal and performance spaces and gig venues weren't available in lockdown, so what seems to have happened for a lot of band musicians is they had to adapt to working in isolation. If they wanted to continue to come together with bandmates, they had to get used to e-mailing each other recordings and employing video technologies.
It’s not solely down to Covid though. “We've been heading into solo artists territory for a really long time,” she said. “If you look at artists like Ed Sheeran, Adele and others, they've been around for some time now and they've been extremely popular. This summer has been packed with solo artists. Taylor Swift has been the big music industry focus, but we've also had Charlie XCX’s ‘Brat Summer’, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan providing the summer soundtrack. Last year it was Harry Styles.”
One key reason she believes is money. “Touring is far more expensive as a band than as a solo artist,” she said. “There's far more risk involved and there's far more infrastructure required in touring a band.
“The new technologies that we have access to, often in the palm of our hand, have made music production easier than ever. You can be a bedroom producer with very little investment or expertise – releasing your own music easily via Youtube, Bandcamp or social media. There are very few barriers to releasing your own music these days.
“But that means, very often, that there is a narrower range of sound on offer, and because of the way steaming services and algorithms work, we hear more of these kinds of sounds because the services prioritise them, and then the cycle feeds itself. The sounds we’re growing accustomed to often exclude more traditional band set ups, so perhaps the news of Oasis’ return might trip the switch a bit. It might start to reverse this. Engaging with the Britpop back catalogue might be just the thing to open up the popular soundscape again.”