Released on 10 November 2014, Pink Floyd’s 15th – and final – studio album, The Endless River, was perhaps the most surprising entry in the legendary prog-rock band’s discography. With two decades having passed since the release of their previous album, The Division Bell, it seemed as if the curtain had finally come down on Pink Floyd’s recording career, particularly following the death of keyboardist Richard Wright, in 2008. Unbeknown to many, however, the group had accrued a wealth of unreleased recordings dating back to the early 90s, much of which would form the basis for The Endless River.
Originating from jam sessions held for The Division Bell, nearly a full day’s worth of material had been recorded at guitarist David Gilmour’s houseboat studio, The Astoria, and Medina studio, in Brighton. Years later, after the passing of Richard Wright, the remaining Pink Floyd bandmates decided it was time to revisit those tapes.
With Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera volunteering to sift through the approximately 20 hours’ worth of music, the band’s “farewell album” soon started to take shape. To aid the process, Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason returned to the studio to record new guitar and drum parts, aiming to create a largely instrumental album that would serve as both a tribute to Wright and a fitting epilogue to Pink Floyd’s musical journey. As revealed by this track-by-track guide to each of the album’s 18 songs, The Endless River emerges as an ambient swansong of remembrance and closure.
Listen to ‘The Endless River’ here.
‘The Endless River’ Track-By-Track: A Guide To Every Song On The Album
Things Left Unsaid
Tracing the headwaters of The Endless River, the album’s ethereal opening track, Things Left Unsaid, begins with spoken-word reflections from Pink Floyd bandmates Richard Wright, David Gilmour and Nick Mason. With each member wistfully describing the telepathy of their musical connection over rippling synths, this instrumental is a tranquillity-inducing prologue that eddies its way into an ambient soundscape, gently guided by the currents of Gilmour’s EBow-infused guitar.