DAVID GILMOUR

Pink Floyd’s powerhouse looks to the future with a knowing glance to the past on this, his latest solo album.

Words: Jerry Ewing

Illustration: Mark Leary

One of the great ironies of the solo album is that in reality you’d expect any musician to step away from their day job to explore new ground. Why bother otherwise? You might as well make another ‘band’ album. But there’s the catch: most fans just want more of the same.

And what if you’re largely responsible for the sound of one of the biggest bands in the world anyway, as David Gilmour arguably is? It stands to reason that your own music will retain certain trademarks, even if you decide to release a reggae album. Is it not just the same old, same old?

Well, first up, David Gilmour hasn’t released a reggae album. Luck And Strange, so named because it’s “the luck of the very strange moment that me, and baby boomers in general, in the post-war world to have had such a fortunate moment with so many positive ideas,” according to the man that made it, is very much a David Gilmour album. That guitar tone, those solos, both dreamy and daring, and that voice, calming and comfortable, though never numb, are all very much in place.

And yet it’s also a David Gilmour album with a difference. Much has been made of youthful producer Charlie Andrew, whose CV boasts indie rockers Alt-J, Wolf Alice and Marika Hackman Approaching Gilmour without prior knowledge, and therefore no real awe, he brings a new approach to the album’s sound, leading Gilmour to comment, “He came and listened to a demo or two and he was like: ‘Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo there? And do they all fade out? Can’t some of them just end?’ He has a wonderful lack of knowledge of, and respect for, my past.”

Before panic sets in, be assured one can trace a linear path through all of Gilmour’s solo albums, from 1978’s self-titled debut through, 46 years later, to Luck And Strange. Production-wise it sounds crisp and relevant, without losing any of the core values listeners expect from a Gilmour record. And there’s plenty of those Gilmour guitar solos to savour.

Luck And Strange

SONY MUSIC

"Crisp and relevant, without losing any of the core values we expect."

So, musically, how does Luck And Strange stack up? There are no excursions into Frenchstyled jazz, for starters. Three singles have been released so far, and they give a pretty good representation of the sound: a guitar-led adult rock album, with some progressive flourishes, that muses on life and mortality. It’s hardly mawkish fare, however. In more recent portraits of Gilmour one can spot a steely glint in his eye, and despite the subject matter, he’s hardly feeling sorry for himself here.

You’d expect a David Gilmour album to open with an instrumental –both On An Island and Rattle That Lock did –and so does Luck And Strange, although the dreamy Black Cat is just half the length of its predecessors, before the slow-building groove of the title track takes hold. Richard Wright’s appearance on electric piano and Hammond, taken from a 2007 jam at Gilmour’s Brighton barn following the On An Island tour, will delight Floyd fans, and adds a touch of moist-eyed nostalgia – but only a touch, mind! Equally enjoyable are the ever-building guitar strokes that begin to colour the album. It’s the same with first single The Piper’s Call, which follows a similar slowbuild and yet as layers of sound evolve, so does Gilmour’s guitar playing grow, climaxing with one of the finest solos on the album.

Chances are that very few Prog readers knew of UK dream pop duo The Montgolfier Brothers until Gilmour chose to cover their 1999 single Between Two Points, but it’s a wonderfully relaxed version of a lovely tune, lit up by the wonderful voice of Gilmour’s daughter Romany, who shines across Luck And Strange, be it with her harmonious backing vocals or beautifully understated harp-playing on the shimmeringly short instrumental Vita Brevis.

As one would expect, the spotlight is largely centred on the man with the guitar. And he doesn’t disappoint, whether he’s unleashing heavier-than-expected guitar fury on the seedy Dark And Velvet Nights or slipping into more reflective mode on the sweetly melodic Sings that follows it, while the epic Comfortably Numb-esque strains of Scattered ends the album on a wonderful high note. The folk-like bonus track Yes, I Have Ghosts, again with Romany’s voice and harp in evidence, is an absolute gem of a track too, possibly deserving of inclusion on the album proper.

Gilmour has stated that, “Our plan is just to get this one out and run it and then do another one straight away. I will be working with all these people again.” As a fan, you always hope there’ll be more from your favourite artists, but, as the theme of this album explores, time doesn’t always work that way. Luck And Strange would stand as a fitting epitaph to his not inconsiderable talent. It’s a delight of an album.

JON ANDERSON AND THE BAND GEEKS

True FRONTIERS

Ex-Yes man returns to prog with geekily accurate backing.

Jon Anderson is at his best as a team player, working with close collaborators to create an expansive musical landscape and vision, whether that’s with Yes, Vangelis or Roine Stolt. It’s a pleasure to report that this devastatingly effective album is one of those occasions.

True features the twists, turns and musical hairpin bends of Anderson’s Yes years without slavishly copying, adding a modern cohesiveness. But strong hints of his old outfit are very much present in his collaborators, The Band Geeks – perhaps unsurprisingly they came to his attention covering Yes songs. Guitarist Andy Graziano moves effortlessly from Steve Howe-esque trills and frills to Trevor Rabin-like ornamentation and power, sometimes within a few bars. Anderson’s co-producer (and latter-day Blue Öyster Cult member) Richie Castellano weighs in with some deliciously knotty Rickenbacker bass, as if Chris Squire is offering affirmation from the beyond.

"Trueuses past stylings in a state-ofthe-artsetting."

Positivity abounds from the off in the aforementioned True Messenger, with Graziano taking a positively Howeesque approach, sending pirouettes of sprightly notes across the song’s mercurial surface, before conveying his 90125 successor’s essence in a decidedly crunchy finale. Lead single Shine On, with its jazzy breaks and relentlessly-yelled title chorus, would fit well on Yes’s criminally overlooked (and recently reissued) 1994 album Talk.

Counties And Countries features the plaintive vocal melodies of Yes’s earliest psychedelic incarnation, but also manages to perfectly blend elements of all phases of the group to create a kind of Omni-Yes setting across this celebratory track’s 10 superb minutes. Yet the album still hasn’t peaked. The 16-plus-minute Once Upon A Dream is poised to become a modern prog classic. It begins with Anderson reprising the chanting style that begins Tales Of Topographic Oceans. Graziano reels off a string of guitar motifs that firmly lodge in the brain after only the second or third hearing. The singer leads the Geeks through the shifting musical terrain, including a gorgeously tranquil middle section before an appropriately magnificent conclusion.

True is no pale rehash of former glories, but a genuine triumph using past stylings to frame excellent compositions in a state-of-the-art setting. If only it had a Roger Dean painting or similarly majestic sleeve art to match the grandness of its contents, rather than the home computer cut-and-paste job we get.

PAUL GING

LAURIE ANDERSON

Amelia NONESUCH

US avant-gardist pilots a daringly dreamlike musical biography.

Originally commissioned and premiered at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 2000, Amelia has since undergone a series of readjustments and live additions. This studio version is worth the wait.

Rooted in Amelia Earhart’s diaries and telegrams, it charts the US aviator’s last flight in 1937, when she vanished over the Pacific while attempting to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth. Anderson narrates the journey from Earhart’s imagined perspective, with guests including Czech orchestra Filharmonie Brno, guest vocalist Anohni and guitarist Marc Ribot. The continuous tone gives the drama an unobtrusive flow, as Earhart leaves California full of optimism, crossing the equator on banks of strings, before setting course for India And On Down To Australia against a softly kinetic rhythm. As the fateful day approaches, Anderson deftly alternates between diary entries and fragmented memories, while Earhart’s own voice – pulled from a 1935 radio broadcast – emerges on This Modern World. A wondrous, absorbing study of ambition and adventure by someone who’s made a musical career of both.

RH

BIG BIG TRAIN

AFlare On The Lens INSIDEOUTMUSIC

Three epic hours of BBT live.

Big Big Train were never the most consistent of live bands, partly due to the fact that they pretty much resisted gigging for a large chunk of their career.

When they did commit to performing again, they eventually honed their performing chops, only to have their shows scuppered by the pandemic and, more tragically, the death of singer David Longdon.

This album and accompanying live film captures the band’s two-night stint at Cadogan Hall in west London last September with Longdon’s replacement Alberto Bravin. The late frontman is a hard act to follow, and his expressive

and droll live energy is missed, but the Italian singer and multiinstrumentalist brings a different dynamic to these songs and performances, putting a lovely spin on BBT classics such as East Coast Racer, the rattling Hedgerow and the yearning Curator Of Butterflies, as well as a sparkling version of Oblivion, from this year’s The Likes Of Us, Bravin’s debut with the band.