The London-based cottage industry that exists to answer the essential question of our age—what are Liam and Noel Gallagher doing, and when, if ever, will they re-form Oasis?—has had a busy few weeks. Let’s catch you up, shall we?

Noel’s end of that equation is fairly simple, as evidenced by recent reports of his ongoing touring behind his second record with his post-Oasis outfit, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (but also by his recent claims that he’d get the band back together only if offered a £20 million paycheck for a one-off gig—a turn of events he speculated had about a 1 percent chance of actually happening).

Liam’s take on all of this is at once more intriguing, more confusing, and—given that it’s Liam Gallagher we’re talking about—more volatile and more entertaining. You see, there’s a documentary about the band debuting later this year. Titled Supersonic, after the band’s first single, it’s by the same team behind the Academy Award–winning Amy Winehouse documentary, Amy. (Perhaps more relevant to their latest subject, they also made The Road to Guantanamo and the Ian Dury biopic S_ex & Drugs & Rock & Roll_.) And it follows the band from their earliest days through their violent breakup minutes before a Paris gig in 2009, with Liam swinging a guitar like an axe in the band’s dressing room, missing Noel’s head by mere inches. And while Liam’s reaction after seeing the film for the first time was a welcome reminder of his trademark bombast (“BIBLICAL,” he tweeted, followed by, “A REAL FILM ABOUT A REAL BAND FOR REAL FANS NONE OF THEM FAKE 1s YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE”), he couldn’t resist adding a dig at his brother a few days later (“See you at the premier you SHITBAG”).

That’s merely the backstory. Fast-forward to yesterday, when Liam tweeted something that had his legions of fans (and the aforementioned press juggernaut) seeing sun_sheeeeiiiiine_ for the first time in years: “Lots of exciting things happening time to get back in the ring give us a call ROVER.” What ever could this mean? The NME—the band’s unofficial publicity arm—was abuzz with speculation: They’re re-forming Oasis! No, he’s getting a new band together! That tweet was followed shortly by a cryptic 10-second video in which the singer—seemingly not far from a beach, wearing not one but two straw hats—proclaims, in a particularly plummy register, “An old gray wizard said to me once, ‘I re_fuuuuuse_ to die’ . . .”

Cut to today: Liam’s (and Noel’s) old buddy Richard Ashcroft—the legendary Mad Richard, former lead singer of The Verve, for those of you playing catch-up—releases These People, his first solo album in six years. It’s something of a return to his golden-age orchestral Verve sound (and features string arrangements by Wil Malone, who did the same for Urban Hymns). All of which is fantastic. It’s Ashcroft’s interview with BBC’s Radio 5 Live, however, that seems to—if only for a brief moment—answer the question of what Liam’s really up to. Asked why Ashcroft hasn’t followed up on earlier statements of his about wanting to make a record with Noel, Ashcroft responds, essentially, that he doesn’t want to get between the two brothers. Then he seems to let the real reason slip: “I’ve been really excited about helping Liam get his first”—and then he catches himself, quickly reverting to, “I think Liam should do his first solo album.”

Though the NME’s takeaway from the whole exchange was framed as “Richard Ashcroft says he couldn’t work with Noel Gallagher because it would ‘upset’ Liam,” we’re reading this one as “Brilliant songwriter Richard Ashcroft has been working with rock ’n’ roll-voice-of-his-generation Liam Gallagher on Liam’s solo album.”

As you were . . .