Album Reviews

Whether you know it or not, we 21st century dwellers are living through a fascinating phase of music history, a time when there are arguably an unprecedented number of older and wildly successful musicians who are thankfully still active making fine new music way beyond their so-called “golden years.” From Paul McCartney, Neil Young, and Robert Plant to Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Gary Numan, Peter Frampton, Dion, Jon Anderson, Sparks, and many others, so-called legacy artists can remain as inspirations for the ages. Heck, the recently departed David Crosby (whom AP editor Mike Mettler spoke with here, in our Interviews section, just a few months prior to his January 2023 passing) made many of the best recordings of his solo career in the last 20 years of his life.

Historically, artists didn’t always live this long. And even if they did live rich lives, many of them simply stopped making new music regularly in any broad sense once their big youthful hits dried up. Lucky for us, many of our favorite artists who are survivors have not given up, and they continue to release compelling and even outstanding new music — with much of it being reviewed right here on AP, in fact.

To that, legendary longtime Pink Floyd guitarist, composer, and singer David Gilmour has graced us with another fine solo album that he himself considers his best since his former band’s iconic March 1973 masterwork LP on Harvest/Capitol, The Dark Side of the Moon. Time will tell if his new LP Luck and Strange — which was released on standard-weight vinyl by Sony Music on September 6, 2024 — takes on that legendary status in the years to come, but it is fair to say Gilmour has indeed been enjoying a consistent, late-period, 21st century renaissance. In fact, his last two studio albums have been quite excellent — the mellow but gorgeous Top 10 March 2006 LP Columbia set On An Island, and the somewhat more rocking September 2015 LP on Columbia, Rattle That Lock. His new vinyl offering, Luck and Strange, is another unexpected gem that continues this winning streak for this amazing artist.

Overall, the production on Luck and Strange is excellent, and the songwriting solid. Gilmour’s guitar playing remains top of the pops — and, perhaps most importantly, his voice sounds really good too. (More on this in a bit.)

From the official online site supporting the new album, we learn that “Luck and Strange was recorded over five months in Brighton and London and is Gilmour’s first album of new material in nine years. The record was produced by David and Charlie Andrew, best known for his work with alt-J and Marika Hackman, with lyrics mostly written by Polly Samson, Gilmour’s co-writer for the past thirty years. [. . .] The title track also features the late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright, recorded in 2007 during a ‘Barn Jam’ at David’s house.”

Further exploring the DNA beneath Luck and Strange, from the LP-size booklet included in the package, we learn that this collection of songs was actually crafted across seven different studios in UK — and thus likely, we assume, recorded in the digital domain. But worry not, as the recording does sound rich and warm on the new standard vinyl pressing — the sea-blue vinyl variant of which I purchased at Target, believe it or not! The Luck LP is well-centered and generally quiet, something that is a happy occurrence, given the things that can happen with color vinyl.

Digging down further, it is not surprising to find that, given the number of studios in which Luck and Strange was recorded, multiple engineers were employed in doing so, including Matt Glasbey, Damon Iddins, Andy Jackson, and Luie Stylianou. Mastering was helmed by Dick Bettham at 360 Mastering.

The half-speed vinyl masters were cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios — another indicator of the album’s digital roots, as we know from past review research that Showell prefers cutting from digital. This detail is further confirmed when you look for Showell’s tell-tale etchings in the runout groove/deadwax, as shown above. We haven’t yet determined where Luck and Strange was pressed, however.

The lovely gatefold cover for Luck and Strange features photography and design by acclaimed visual artist Anton Corbijn (U2, Depeche Mode). The SRP for the black vinyl version is $35.99. For one dollar more, you can get the teal-esque sea blue variant (akin to mine), while a coke bottle glass color edition is available exclusively from Gilmour’s own site (which you can order here, if you so choose; otherwise, you can order the black and/or sea-blue vinyl edition via the Music Direct link graphic at the end of this review.)

For those who want the expanded 180g 2LP version of Luck and Strange, it can be found as part of a super deluxe edition box set that’s coming out September 27, 2024, and it sports an SRP of $142.99. That box includes the main album plus a bonus LP with extra tracks such as the full “Barn Jam” of the title track with late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright. This package also includes 2CDs (one with bonus tracks), a BD with a Dolby Atmos mix, and a 68-page hardcover book featuring photography by Polly Samson captured during the album’s recording.

So, by now, some of you are probably wondering if Luck and Strange is a good listen in league with past Gilmour solo LPs and Pink Floyd proper releases. Personally, I don’t think Dark Side is a fair comparison to make with this album. Heck, very few albums can rise to that sort of standard save for Pink Floyd’s own sequel LP on Harvest/Columbia, Wish You Were Here, which just so happens to have been released 49 years ago yesterday on September 12, 1975. (Incidentally, the last album I by anyone I consider to be on par with classic Pink Floyd was Radiohead’s May 1997 LP on Parlophone/Capitol, OK Computer.)

However, if you have enjoyed 1980s-era Pink Floyd releases such as the excellent September 1987 LP on Columbia, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, you’ll probably enjoy Luck and Strange. To my sensibilities, this album feels like another excellent David Gilmour record. Inevitably, his music will contain echoes of his former band, given his guitar playing is a crucial part of Pink Floyd’s sonic architecture.

For those who know Gilmour’s solo work, you also know that it is its own thing (if you will). Luck and Strange is a beautiful quick grower of an album in terms of immediate likeability. It is one of those recordings that pushes you to flip over the album and play it again and again. From this reviewer’s perspective, that is in part due to the gorgeous sound of Gilmour’s lead guitar solos that are at his bluesy, soaring best on tracks like “A Single Spark” (Side A, Track 4).

My personal favorite cut here is “Dark and Velvet Nights” (Side B, Track 1), a tune that is particularly wonderful for its introductory moments. The song emerges in a swelling fireball of heady psychedelic feedback followed by a ripping guitar snarl that is reminiscent of no less than the opening of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s legendary “Foxy Lady” (from their May 1967 Track/Reprise début LP, Are You Experienced?). A trippy approach for a song that lyrically deals with the subject of mortality and the forces of love, the tune also ends on a Lennonesque note with a chord reminiscent of The Beatles’ September 1969 Abbey Road epic on Apple/Capitol, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”

Guest musicians on Luck and Strange are important to note because there are some legends here, including drummer Steve Gadd (Steely Dan, Chick Corea, Paul Simon). Keyboardist Roger Eno — yes, Brian Eno’s super-talented-in-his-own-right brother — is also prominently featured throughout the album.

Perhaps most notable on this album is the presence of Gilmour’s daughter Romany, who has a lovely voice that takes the lead on “Between Two Points” (Side A, Track 6) and lends backgrounds to most of the LP’s other tracks, as well as her contributing harp on the lovely interlude “Vita Brevis” (Side A, Track 5). “Between Two Points” is a fascinating cover tune, written by The Montgolfier Brothers (i.e., songwriter/producer Mark Tranmer and the late drummer Roger Quigley). If you are like me, you very likely have not heard of this group, and I suspect many listeners aren’t likely to be familiar with this somewhat obscure British dream-pop indie-rock duo. Apparently, Gilmour had discovered them along the way, and, liking what he heard, assumed they were a well-established, popular band and decided to include his cover of this song on this album. As a point of reference, in May 2024, the original version of “Between Two Points” had a mere 25,000 plays on Spotify, and, as of this posting, it’s only gone up to 48,000. (Can you imagine being an indie-pop composer like Tranmer waking up one day to learn that Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has not only discovered but also covered one of your songs on his latest album?)

All that said, Luck and Strange is a fine addition to the David Gilmour catalog, filled with beautifully recorded electric guitars, loads of amplifier tones, and a fairly lush overall sound. (The full orchestra and choir heard on several of the LP’s tracks were recorded at Angel Studios.) One of the curious things about this album that I have grown to appreciate is the bright snap of the drums are very much reined in on vinyl. On one hand, I understand this as being a necessity to keep the focus on Gilmour’s voice — and the lyrics by his longtime partner, Polly Samson — as well as his signature guitar playing. It also allows the orchestral parts to soar without getting lost in sonic sauce. Yet the recording still rocks and sounds balanced when you turn up the album to louder volumes — and who doesn’t like to pump up the volume on a progressive-leaning recording anyway?

As far as our ratings go, we’ll go as far as giving Luck and Strange a 9 for Music and an 8 for Sound. I gave the sound a little technical “ding” because there was a tiny bit of surface noise at the very start of the album ahead of “Black Cat” (Side A, Track 1), which thankfully went away in short order. But it reminded me of the similar, ever-annoying soft noise that graced my original LP copy of the aforementioned Wish You Were Here during the dramatic album-opening sequence of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V).”

Perhaps a bit more distressing is the bit of distortion that happens briefly on my sea-blue color vinyl pressing toward the very end of “Between Two Points” that doesn’t appear on the streaming versions I checked out. It’s not a total deal-breaker for me, mind you, but it is one of those nit-picky details I can’t ignore. I was hoping the standard black vinyl version didn’t have those issues, so I asked AP editor Mike Mettler to check for them on his own black-vinyl copy. Mettler reported back that “Interestingly, my black vinyl copy also has that telltale surface noise ahead of “Black Cat” on Side A, making me wonder if it’s either a pressing issue or perhaps intentional in some way — hence, we will have to ask the Gilmour camp to clarify that. However, my black vinyl copy did not display any distortion towards the end of “Between Two Points,” so that nit may be a color-vinyl issue exclusively. One final note: I replaced the black paper inner sleeve with an audiophile-grade plastic sleeve.” (Mettler then added that his Sound rating would be 8.5.)

Regardless, Luck and Strange is a fine new album proving once again that rock & roll indeed will never die when it’s in the hands of gifted composers/musicians like David Gilmour. If you’ve liked his last several solo releases, don’t hesitate on getting this new LP. It’s a sweet, sweet spin that continues to reward upon repeat listens.

Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for AudiophileReview.com, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V. at LinkedIn.

DAVID GILMOUR
LUCK AND STRANGE
1LP (Sony Music)

Side A
1. Black Cat
2. Luck And Strange
3. The Piper’s Call
4. A Single Spark
5. Vita Brevis
6. Between Two Points (With Romany Gilmour)

Side B
1. Dark And Velvet Nights
2. Sings
3. Scattered