DAVID GILMOUR – Rattle That Lock (2015)

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If Pink Floyd’s mostly instrumental and ambient 2014 album The Endless River left you wishing for more classic elements — like, say, DAVID GILMOUR‘s husky vocals and stinging guitar — his new, fourth solo album (to be released tomorrow September 18) “Rattle That Lock“, should fit the bill.

On his first project since Pink Floyd put an end to their long career with The Endless River, Gilmour continues on the path the band laid down decades ago with a concept album about a typical day in the life of a middle-aged man coming to terms with loss, mortality and his varied musical influences.
Written by Gilmour with his wife, Polly Samson, “Rattle That Lock” is both autobiographical and meditative, a look at a life filled with the usual shares of love, hope, hurt and joy.
On “Today,” which comes near the end of the narrative, it’s all pretty much summed up with a Floyd-funky rhythm buoying a live-in-the-moment sentiment. It’s not heavy, and it never goes as deep as Pink Floyd classics like The Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall, but for the 69-year-old Gilmour, it’s where life has taken him.
The journey to this place is what “Rattle That Lock” is all about.

The 10 songs (led by the atmospheric instrumental ‘5 A.M.’ the title of which recalls former bandmate Roger Waters’ opening track on his 1984 solo debut, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, ‘4:30 AM’) drift along various routes: rock, pop, ambient. It’s as much Gilmour’s story as it is Pink Floyd’s during the later years. There’s even a tribute to the group’s late keyboardist Rick Wright, whose instrumental tracks were the impetus for The Endless River.
“Rattle That Lock” is more rock-oriented than that record.
There are three instrumental cuts, which float somewhere between the ethereal and the concrete, but it’s the songs featuring Gilmour’s voice that invite, for better or worse, the Pink Floyd comparisons.

The soaring title track recalls the band’s ’80s and ’90s work, when they were trying to carve out a new identity following Waters’ departure. It’s one of my favorites on the CD, and worth the purchase alone.
The biting guitar that caps ‘Dancing Right in Front of Me’ is vintage Gilmour; and ‘Today’ chugs along with Animals-era punch.
Although largely steering away from anything too arena-rock, ‘In Any Tongue’ is steeped in grandeur and sentiment. It’s also one of the few orchestrated and epic solos – no impromptu blues here, but the full Gilmour-arsenal of wailing bends and climatic crescendos.

Album closer ‘And Then’ is delicate, flowing and understated; a whimsical and evocative piece of music that fellow guitarists can only wish to create with such simple techniques.
The whole track has a sense of finality, ending with a fingerpicked nylon string guitar over swelling strings that gently fades out; which is very apt given that Pink Floyd have bowed out quite gracefully and in an understated manner post-Live 8 reunion.

“Rattle That Lock” has some – obvious – Pink Floyd flashes, but it’s pure David Gilmour. It’s not as majestic or epic as his work with the famous British band, but following the somewhat exasperated exhale of The Endless River, it’s about as close to a classic Pink Floyd album fans are going to get these days.
Strongly Recommended.

01. 5 A.M.
02. Rattle That Lock
03. Faces Of Stone
04. A Boat Lies Waiting
05. Dancing Right In Front Of Me
06. In Any Tongue
07. Beauty
08. The Girl In The Yellow Dress
09. Today
10. And Then…

David Gilmour – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, SNCF sample, bass
Guy Pratt – bass guitar (2, 9)
Gabriel Gilmour – piano (6)
Andy Newmark – drums (5, 6, 10)
Steve DiStanislao – drums (2, 3, 5, 7, 9), percussion (2, 3, 7), backing vocals (2)
Danny Cummings – percussion (3, 4, 5, 7, 10)
Phil Manzanera – Hammond organ (2, 3), keyboard elements (2, 3, 6), acoustic guitar (3, 9)
Damon Iddins – accordion (3)
David Crosby & Graham Nash – backing vocals (4)
Jools Holland – piano (8)
Rado Klose – guitar (8)
Chris Laurence – double bass (8)
Mica Paris & Louise Marshall – backing vocals (2, 9)
Zbigniew Preisner – orchestration (1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10)
Michaël Boumendil – original SNCF jingle (2)
Richard Wright – voice sample (4)
The Liberty Choir – backing vocals (2)
Michael Gallucci – words

Pre-Order
www.amazon.co.uk/Rattle-That-Lock-David-Gilmour/dp/B011J4O3RG
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