Though the Brit Pop wars are decades behind us, one of the OGs of that era’s sniping, former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, has re-ignited its most combustible feud by taking a shot at his favorite nemesis: Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn.
In this case, though, the reliably tart-tongued “Everything’s Electric” singer took aim at Albarn through the side door by dinging Damon for regrettable comments he made in an interview in which he claimed Taylor Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.” In a new interview with NME, Gallagher was happy to weigh in and offer a clever retort to Albarn’s since walked-backed comments.
“Says who? All them f—ing gorilla [Gorillaz] albums are co-writes aren’t they? I get it – [brother] Noel [Gallagher] bangs on about it as well: ‘I’m more important than you because I write my f—ing songs,’” Gallagher said, seemingly pointing out that a large number of songs from Albarn’s virtual band Gorillaz are credited to the Blur frontman and a number of co-writers, including the band’s co-founder, British illustrator/director Jamie Hewlett.
After Albarn’s claims in the instantly viral Los Angeles Times interview — which he later said were taken out of context — Swift took to Twitter to stand up for herself. “I write ALL of my own songs,” she wrote. “Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f—ed up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.”
“I totally agree with you,” Albarn tweeted in response to Swift’s remarks. “I had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand.” A number of Taylor’s collaborators and fellow singer/songwriters came to her defense after Albarn’s initial comments, but Gallagher gleefully took the opportunity to tweak his old rival one more time.
“Well, he [Albarn] won’t be saying that again in a hurry, though, will he?” Gallaghers said. “Did he not get ran out of f—ing town by the Swifters? I think [Taylor’s] f—ing cool, man. She does write her songs and I’m sure she’s co-wrote with people.”