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In 2014, Pink Floyd released their 'final' album, The Endless River, to mixed reviews. Coming from a band so inextricably entrenched in the pantheon of all time greats, it’s sometimes difficult to extract yourself, and convince people you really mean it.
In David Gilmour’s case, he’s certainly trying. When asked about his former band in a recent interview, he stated, "It has run its course, we are done - and it would be fakery to go back and do it again.” Pretty definitive.
With Floyd’s interminable demise clearly stated, Gilmour has wasted little time. Rattle and Lock is an interesting record that neither fully breaks from his former band's well worn sound, whilst also reaching for and experimenting with other genres.
The opening strains of the first track, the instrumental ‘5 A.M’, are reassuring in their familiarity. Gilmour’s guitar gently laps the spare instrumentation to create a warm intro to the record. The pace is immediately racked up a notch for the lead single ‘Rattle that Lock’. Again, it wouldn’t be out of place on a Pink Floyd record, and it’s a convincing single, complete with an infectious and propulsive call and response chorus.
‘Faces of Stone’ is a waltz that recalls Leonard Cohen, and includes a beautiful arrangement of guitar and piano. Piano also figures largely in the gorgeous ‘A Boat Lies Waiting’: subtle and compelling, it provides a rolling backdrop for the lush harmonies of Gilmour, David Crosby and Graham Nash. It’s an enchanting moment, and one of the record’s highlights.
Gilmour certainly made use of his contacts book for this record. Not only do Cosby and Nash appear, but there are also guest spots from Robert Wyatt and former Squeeze member Jools Holland. The calibre of musicians and sleekness of the recording will come as no surprise to long-time Floyd fans: slick production has always been a hallmark of the Pink Floyd oeuvre.
Watch the official video for 'Rattle That Lock' below
The album ebbs and flows through blues and jazz inflected numbers like ‘Dancing Right in Front of Me’ and ‘The Girl in the Yellow Dress’, to epic tracks like ‘In Any Tongue’. Lyrically, the song is indicative of the melancholic tone of the album, as Gilmour’s soaring vocals ponder world conflicts: “On the screen young men die/The children cry in the rubble of their lives/I hear ‘mama’ sounds the same in any tongue.”
Ultimately, it’s these tracks that tend to be the most successful on the album. ‘Today’ is such a track. Not only does it have a deliciously funky baseline, reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’, it is also a rare brighter moment. Finally, Dave throws us a bone of positivity imploring us to "feel that sun on your back / See the shadows falling / Sea meets shore and soothes it with a song.”
Rattle and Lock isn’t a boundary pushing, genre-defying record, but it is a fine one. It may be a little slight in places, but there is much to be enjoyed, and it’s likely to satisfy Pink Floyd fans on many levels.
Most importantly, Gilmour has avoided any ‘fakery’ and delivered an album of quality and integrity. We can all sleep easy, safe in the knowledge that he is far from just ‘another brick in the wall’: "It's just a pop group. I don't need it. I don't need to go there. I'm not being coy or difficult - I just think that at my age I should do whatever I really want to do in life.” Damn straight David Gilmour, damn straight.
