On September 6, David Gilmour, the former Pink Floyd guitarist, released his first studio album in nearly ten years, titled “Luck and Strange.”
The album opens up with the instrumental “Black Cat,” which is a minute-and-a-half of ambient guitar and keyboards going back and forth. It does a good job of easing the listener into the album, but it is quickly forgotten about when the next song begins, the title track “Luck and Strange.”
The song was first recorded in a barn 2007 as an instrumental and includes former Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, who died in 2008. The song has a very mellow feel until it explodes into the chorus, during which Gilmour attempts to reach higher notes he maybe shouldn’t be reaching for, but that can be forgiven for having Wright making an unexpected appearance on the album.
“The Piper’s Call” starts off with a great ukulele intro that slowly builds up to somewhat of a letdown of a song. There are interesting parts to it, but Gilmour singing about snakes and gold doesn’t really work.
“A Single Spark” is another one of the weaker tracks on the album. There is an unnecessary interruption from a choir and church bell midway through that doesn’t fit at all with the rest of the song, which is simply too long at over six minutes. There is a nice guitar solo from Gilmour at the end of the track, but it takes awhile to get there.
“Vita Brevis” is forty-five seconds of ambient guitar that mainly serves as an instrumental interlude between “A Single Spark” and “Between Two Points.” It’s nothing special, but there are better things to come.
The aforementioned “Between Two Points” is the first song to feature Gilmour’s daughter, Romany Gilmour. Her vocals bring life into the album, especially when paired with Gilmour’s guitar work. This song is the only cover on the album, but it blends seamlessly with the other tracks.
“Dark and Velvet Nights” has some of Gilmour’s best guitar work on the album. The intro sounds like it is coming from outer space, and there are some very unusual drum beats provided by Steve Gadd and Adam Betts. Some may know Gadd for his continuous work with Steely Dan, the BeeGees, and Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” album.
“Sings” is the best track on the album. The lyrics open up with Gilmour reflecting on getting older, until the chorus has him looking back on the past. The track is very warm and enjoyable.
“Scattered” continues the theme of Gilmour looking at old age. It also has what is probably his best guitar solo on the album, and has some great keyboards from Roger Eno that give the song a very mysterious tone. Roger Eno is also the brother of Brian Eno, who is famous for his collaborations with David Bowie on his “Berlin Trilogy” albums.
The next two songs are only available as bonus tracks on special editions of the album. “Yes, I Have Ghosts,” released as a single back in 2020, is the only other song to feature Romany Gilmour sharing vocals. She definitely adds a haunting aspect to this song, one that enhances the themes of ghosts.
The song shows Gilmour’s continued interest in folk, and he layers lots of interesting acoustic guitar bits into the track. This song didn’t have to be included, as it has been around for four years, but including it was certainly the right decision, and it fits well with the newer tracks on the album. The original 2007 instrumental version of “Luck and Strange” is included as the last track on the album. Without the vocals, it allows the listener to hear more of Wright’s keyboards and Gilmour’s guitar, which of course makes it worth being included on the album.
Gilmour himself has said that this album is the best thing he’s done since Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” While that is simply not true, the album is still worth hearing. His last release, “Rattle that lock,” was a lot more varied musically, while this album seems to be centered on a single sound.
Gilmour has the disadvantage of having anything he ever releases compared to Pink Floyd’s work in the ‘70s, which ultimately makes it hard to make something groundbreaking. However, he absolutely has something to be proud about with this album, which became his first number one in terms of physical album sales.
