Pink Floyd: Hear preview of its new album

In July, word leaked that Pink Floyd was planning to release its first album of new music in 20 years, the nearly all-instrumental “The Endless River.” In this case, “new” is relative, since the foundation for “The Endless River” was first laid when the legendary English art-rock band was recording its last album of new music in 1993, which came out on 1994’s “The Division Bell.”

On Monday, band members David Gilmour and Nick Mason announced “The Endless River” will be released on Nov. 10. (It was originally slated for release in October.) The two also discussed the four-sided album, which features and pays homage to former Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, who died of cancer in 2008.

It is -- surprise! -- a concept album from a band that helped pioneer the ideal of concept albums decades ago. Long-estranged formed Pink Floyd bassist and singer Roger Waters does not appear on the new album. Click here to here a preview of the album’s second cut, “It’s What We Do.”

Gilmour and Mason describe “The Endless River” as “mainly a four-sided instrumental album. It also features one song, “Louder Than Words”, with new lyrics by Gilmour’s wife, Polly Samson. The art work for the album cover features a man paddling across a river of clouds.

“ ‘The Endless River’ has as its starting point the music that came from the 1993 ‘Division Bell’ sessions,” guitarist Gilmour said, in a statement released Monday. (A full list of its songs appears below.)

“We listened to over 20 hours of the three of us playing together and selected the music we wanted to work on for the new album. Over the last year we’ve added new parts, re-recorded others and generally harnessed studio technology to make a 21st century Pink Floyd album. With Rick gone, and with him the chance of ever doing it again, it feels right that these revisited and reworked tracks should be made available as part of our repertoire.”

Added Mason: “ ‘The Endless River’ is a tribute to Rick. I think this record is a good way of recognizing a lot of what he does and how his playing was at the heart of the Pink Floyd sound. Listening back to the sessions, it really brought home to me what a special player he was.”

The concept for the new album’s cover was created by Ahmed Emad Eldin, an 18-year-old Egyptian digital artist. His image was subsequently re-created by Stylorouge, an award-winning design agency. (Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis, who created many of Floyd’s epic album covers, passed away in in 2013. Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell, his original partner in Hipgnosis, was tasked with completing “The Endless River” album cover.

“When we saw Ahmed’s image it had an instant Floydian resonance.” Powell said. “It’s enigmatic and open to interpretation, and is the cover that works so well for ‘The Endless River’.”

SIDE 1

• Things Left Unsaid
• It’s What We Do
• Ebb And Flow

SIDE 2

• Sum
• Skins
• Unsung
• Anisina

SIDE 3

• The Lost Art of Conversation
• On Noodle Street
• Night Light
• Allons-y
• Autumn’68
• Allons-y (2)
• Talkin’ Hawkin’

SIDE 4

• Calling
• Eyes To Pearls
• Surfacing
• Louder Than Words