“The best album I’ve made since The Dark Side of the Moon”: David Gilmour says his first solo record in 9 years is good enough to rival his best Pink Floyd work

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Later this year, David Gilmour will release Luck and Strange – his first solo album in nine years, which is positioned to be an especially notable release from the Pink Floyd legend.

Not only will it be his first offering of new material in almost a decade, it was constructed with the help of a new-look backroom staff, helmed by Alt-J producer Charlie Andrew, who helped Gilmour expand his musical horizons.

The result, according to Gilmour himself, is an album that could rival even his best work with Pink Floyd.

In fact, in the new issue of Prog, the electric guitar master went on record to say Luck and Strange is his best piece of work since Pink Floyd dropped The Dark Side Of The Moon – widely considered one of the best guitar albums of all time – in 1973.

“It’s over 50 years now since The Dark Side Of The Moon,” Gilmour teases. “My feeling is that this album is the best album I’ve made in all those years since 1973 when The Dark Side Of The Moon came out.”

That alone will be enough to get Gilmour fans even more excited for the forthcoming album, which has so far been previewed by The Piper’s Call and Between Two Points.

At the time of the first single’s release, Gilmour heaped praise on his new production partner, and explained how Andrew had forced him to look at writing, recording and arranging from a completely fresh perspective.

As such, having assembled a team of instrumentalists and collaborators who have helped bring out his best work since The Dark Side of the Moon, Gilmour is eyeing up a swift return to the recording studio following Luck and Strange’s release.

“Our plan is just to get this one out and run it and then do another one straight away,” he continues in his Prog chat. “I will be working with all these people again. I’ve had this problem in the past, of wanting to throw myself in the studio with a few people and just kick stuff around, but not knowing who those people should be.

“And that is now a pressure that’s evaporated, because I’ve got these phone numbers. It feels like a team and I love being in a team – I didn’t choose to be a solo artist.

“When you have achieved the higher levels of success, most of the people that come into your sphere are going to look to you. They’re not going to be like Charlie Andrew – Charlie is the kind of refreshing thing that you want to have happen to you.”

In other Gilmour news, the Pink Floyd legend has been going through the guitars that he used on Luck and Strange – including the instrument he couldn't bear to sell at auction – and recently demonstrated how to pull off his trademark "swell" technique.

Luck and Strange is available to preorder now ahead of its September 6 release.

Head over to Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Prog for the full interview.