Former Pink Floyd guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour’s new solo album, Rattle That Lock, soars with bland ambition.
Co-produced with ex-Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera over several spots in England, the recording is an even-keeled collection of instrumentals, ambient songs and progressive rock groove.
Being in the Floyd can eat up time. Rattle That Lock is only Gilmour’s fourth solo album since the late ‘70s.
There are a few Floydian signposts. The solemn contemplation Faces of Stone recalls Meddle and the exuberant slick funk of Today is a direct descendant of the late ‘80s Learning to Fly era.
Unlike Pink Floyd, this seems to be a concept album without a subject and it’s a lyrically weak album.
Instrumentally, Rattle That Lock has moments of beauty. Gilmour’s playing is masterful and he shows his hand in tracks like 5 A.M., Beauty and the title track. His guitar is a voice of power and restraint, reaffirming his position as one of rock’s most identifiable players.
At times the lushness of the production softens the sting, threatening a surrender to the seriousness of progressive rock.
There is a certain thoughtfulness on the album. A Boat Lies Waiting is a ballad that invokes the style of the late Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright and has an elegiac quality to the chords.
Some tracks have a European ambiance and The Girl in the Yellow Dress and Dancing Right in Front of Me suggest continental melodies and cafés on the boulevard.
Gilmour’s vocal on The Girl (with Micah Paris) and the edgy title track are strong performances. But there’s such depth and ease in the instrumental songs that one wonders why he doesn’t release more of that.
His guitar still speaks in a silvery tongue.
– Dean Gordon-Smith is a Vernon-based musician who reviews the latest music releases for The Morning Star every Friday.
