The pre-release hype for Oasis’ seventh studio album Dig Out Your Soul hinted that they might be heading in a different direction. The actual record is, of course, just another mixed bag of recycled Beatles riffs and John Lennon-isms. But it hasn’t dented the band’s popularity, and now Noel Gallagher has been talking about their next studio album, which he promises will be (yes, you guessed it) “vastly different” from Dig Out Your Soul.

Noel told Billboard that the album is reminiscent of “mid-period Kinks” and also likened it to Neil Young's Greendale. “There's stuff about soldiers and religious people and rock stars and travelers,” he said. “They seem to be all songs about people, but not people I know.” The album will include two songs (titled "I Want to Live in a Dream in My Record Machine" and "Come On It's Alright”) that Noel describes as "psychedelic epics."

As for a much-vaunted solo record from the older Gallagher brother, don’t hold your breath just yet. "I'm kind of hoping Liam might be arrested soon, and then I'll have time to see it through,” he joked. Oasis begin a North American tour on December 3 in Oakland, California. [Billboard]