Album Review: David Gilmour – Rattle That Lock by Bear
As far as a workaholic, David Gilmour is far from it. It’s been 9 years since his last solo album “On An Island” and before that 18 years lapsed since “About Face”. Okay up till 1994 he was a little busy being the voice of one of the greatest bands in the world, Pink Floyd and that took precedent over a solo career and at this point of his career, Gilmour has little left to prove.
Rattle That Lock is a collection of 10 songs that explore a person’s thoughts during a typical day—from the personal, like wrestling with parenthood on “Dancing Right in Front of Me,” to the worldly, as on “In Any Tongue,” which touches on war-induced trauma. He co-wrote five of the songs with his wife, Polly Samson , herself a novelist who has been writing lyrics for David since Pink Floyd’s 1994 album, “The Division Bell.” He also rounded up a few longtime associates to help out like David Crosby and Graham Nash who contributed vocals on the somber tune, “A Boat Lies Waiting.”
Rattle and Lock is an interesting record that neither fully breaks from his former band’s well worn sound, while also reaching for and experimenting with other genres.
The opening strains of the first track, the instrumental “5 A.M”, are reassuring in their familiarity. Gilmour’s guitar gently laps the spare instrumentation to create a warm intro to the record. The pace is immediately racked up a notch for the lead single “Rattle that Lock”.
“A Boat Life Waiting” is a reflection on the passing of keyboardist Rick Wright. Apart from the magic he created with the band Wright was known for being a passionate sailor. This song is probably the most Pink Floyd-esque tracks of all.
Faces of Stone’ is a waltz that recalls Leonard Cohen, and includes a beautiful arrangement of guitar and piano. The album ebbs and flows through blues and jazz inflected numbers like “Dancing Right in Front of Me” and “The Girl in the Yellow Dress”.
Rattle and Lock isn’t a boundary pushing, career defining record and to me, it’s just okay. Sad because I really did enjoy “On An Island” and was looking for more but then again, David Gilmour doesn’t have to justify himself to me or anybody out there.
He is always will be the voice of Pink Floyd.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
