“My best album since The Dark Side of the Moon,” said David Gilmour in reference to Luck and Strange, his most recent project. If that’s a bit of an exaggeration, Gilmour can still claim to have released, in 2024 and at the age of 78, the best solo album of his career. The English musician repeats the same structure piece after piece: he sings for half the track and then, on the other half, lets his fingers dance on the six strings of his Black Strat. And what can we say about his solos that hasn’t already been said? Quite simply, in my personal opinion, David Gilmour is the greatest man ever to touch a guitar. Greater than Page, greater than Clapton, greater than Van Halen and Hendrix. And I’m not open to debate! Especially after seeing the big man at work in New York last month.
Luck and Strange represents the end of a cycle: Gilmour, who dedicated The Endless River album to the late Pink Floyd keyboardist 10 years ago, once again pays tribute to Rick Wright with the project’s title track, directly inspired by a long jam they created together in 2007 (also included on the album as “Barn Jam”). A chapter seems to be closed for good, but another story is born at the same time. David Gilmour invites his 22-year-old daughter Romany to lend her voice to two songs on Luck and Strange. She particularly shines on “Between Two Points,” a sublime, dreamlike cover of The Montgolfier Brothers. A passing of the torch. Endless chills. A little marvel.
