David Gilmour is back with his first album of new material in nine years. Luck And Strange, due in September, finds the guitarist and lyricist Polly Samson taking inspiration from their Von Trapped Family Sessions and turning this into a real family affair. The pair discuss its creation, working outside their comfort zone, and why we might not have to wait quite so long for a follow-up.

Words: Jerry Ewing Portrait: Anton Corbijn

“This album is the best album I’ve made in all those years since 1973, when The Dark Side Of The Moon came out.”

David Gilmour

“It’s over 50 years now since The Dark Side Of The Moon,” says David Gilmour firmly. “My feeling is that this album is the best album I’ve made in all those years since 1973 when The Dark Side Of The Moon came out.”

A pretty bold statement, for sure, and it’ll certainly add fuel to those that dwell in the darker recesses of the internet, intent on spreading scurrilous wildfire, but when the man whose voice and guitar tone went a long way to making said album the enormous success it was says suchlike, maybe they should sit up and take notice.

It’s been nine years since Gilmour last released a solo album and Rattle That Lock gave him his second UK No.1. His first was that album’s predecessor, On An Island, which had similarly been released nine years previous in 2006, although anyone who thinks they’re seeing a concurrent theme here should think again (and it’s something we’ll address later in this piece).

Despite its success, Rattle That Lock is an album that can draw the odd curmudgeonly comment from fans –largely, it seems, because in their minds it doesn’t sound like David Gilmour. Or rather the David Gilmour they want it to sound like: the David Gilmour of richly expressive guitar notes in that oh-so distinct guitar tone, of fluid and sometimes furious soloing; a David Gilmour who sounds as close to Pink Floyd as they can get, given the mothership lies dormant. It’s probably not music to Gilmour’s ears, but you suspect, given his emerging victorious in the Floyd wars, nothing that’s really going to bother him unduly either.

So now, nine years on from Rattle That Lock comes Luck And Strange. Gilmour’s fifth solo venture is released on September 6, which just happens to be the birthday of one Roger Waters. “Not intentional!” stress the Gilmour camp, but whether it is or it isn’t, it’s certainly something to delight the gossip mongers. But whether the album’s release is designed to cock a snook to Gilmour’s former bandmate or not, more pressing for fans is what it sounds like. And is it, as Gilmour claims, the best thing he’s recorded and released since DSOTM?