Review Summary: “This thing we do […] is louder than words.”
One of the most unbelievable and shocking pieces of news we have received this year is certainly the one about the release of the latest, and probably last, album that the remaining members of Pink Floyd, David Gilmour and Nick Mason, have announced.
Many fans and enthusiasts of the band were (and still are) very excited about it, but some of them were also frightened that this album would be a complete mess and a shame among an almost completely brilliant discography, which has not changed for the past twenty years, yet now, suddenly, it is ready to greet “a new member”. So, were those fears grounded?
It is clear that the closing track of
The Division Bell,
High Hopes, was a hymn that seemed to bring forever to a conclusion one of the most important chapters of contemporary music. It was the most perfect farewell, a song which looked into the band’s past (when “the grass was greener”), acknowledged the present and tried to leave “high hopes” for an endless future full of exquisite music, a promise that was never kept until July, when this record was announced.
“There are a lot of things left unsaid”: this is how the album begins, before projecting you into the deep atmospheres of Side One. It is not easy at the beginning, but eventually you understand that this album is meant to be instrumental (apart from the closing track
Louder than Words) because after 20 years it’s too hard to find the right words to justify such a long silence.
The tracks, despite being selected from a twenty-hour-long set of demos recorded during
The Division Bell sessions, flow one after the other creating an unexpected solid compilation of ambient sounds, experimental works and unmistakable quotations from almost every previous release.
It’s impossible not to notice a similarity between
It’s What We Do and some parts of
Shine on You Crazy Diamond, as they both share very similar synth works and guitar parts. It’s also easy to recognise a sort of reprise of
Run Like Hell in
Allons-Y (1) and the speed drumming and psychedelic guitar improvisations in
Skins sound like the ones on
A Saucerful of Secrets.
These little, sometimes almost imperceptible, tributes to older songs make this record seem like a “real” Pink Floyd album, even if just for a few moments, then again, since it is now immersed in a totally different context, it appears to be a little anachronistic or, if you want, outdated.
Luckily, we also see Pink Floyd undertaking a new path, exploring the ambient dimension too, something they never really examined in the past. This is why this album, despite being a bit mediocre here and there, still has something to say and as a result, it can be considered a very brave effort. In fact, while
The Division Bell was just a notable improvement on the previous
A Momentary Lapse of Reason, this record is a further and more introspective refinement of the “Gilmourian sound” Pink Floyd has begun to craft after Waters’ departure.
On the other hand,
Louder Than Words is a song which appears to be stuck in 1994. It is certainly a less powerful closing track than
High Hopes and taken as a single it could sound a bit weak and meaningless, but after more than 45 minutes of instrumental reflection, that very song makes you understand that those sounds needed no lyrics, since they are able to explain the band’s troubles and difficulties of the past 35 years better than any song could do.
This album, just as
Ummagumma or
Atom Heart Mother, is surely not an easy-listening one. As already mentioned, some atmospheres are really captivating on Side One and Two. However, there are also many two-minute less significant and fulfilling tracks, especially on Side Three, but the overall result is way beyond expectation and probably those fears and qualms about the record were not so likely.
The Endless River is a must-listen for every die-hard fan and it is recommended for anyone who wants to find out a little bit more about Pink Floyd’s musical horizons; still, it is far from becoming a timeless classic.
Recommended tracks
Side 1, Pt. 2: It’s What We Do
Side 2, Pt. 2: Skins
Side 2, Pt. 4: Anisina
Side 4, Pt. 3: Surfacing
Side 4, Pt. 4: Louder Than Words
3.2/5
