'Hey Hey Rise Up', Pink Floyd's first new music in 28 years, was inspired by "this extraordinarily crazy, unjust attack by a major power on an independent, peaceful, democratic nation". David Gilmour's answer to the question, "what the f**k can I do?", was to record Floyd's first new song since 1994's 'The Division Bell'.
Although lead singer and guitarist Gilmour, and drummer Nick Mason, have tinkered with the back catalogue of Pink Floyd over the years, and both have been involved in various solo projects, 'Hey Hey Rise Up' represents the band's first entirely fresh release in nearly three decades. The new track, recorded in protest to the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine "will go to support Humanitarian Relief for the people of Ukraine".
'Hey Hey Rise Up' features vocals from Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox, an artist that Gilmour had previously worked with in 2015 at a London benefit gig for the Belarus Free Theatre. Gilmour had seen footage, posted on Instagram, of Andriy, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a rifle, singing 'Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow', a protest song from 1914 about Sich Riflemen who fought in WW1 and the Ukrainian War Of Independence.
Gilmour was inspired by the footage and said - "I thought: that is pretty magical and maybe I can do something with this...It’s a really difficult and frustrating thing to see this extraordinarily crazy, unjust attack by a major power on an independent, peaceful, democratic nation. The frustration of seeing that and thinking ‘what the f**k can I do?’ is sort of unbearable".
Gilmour contacted Mason to get his consent to use the Pink Floyd platform as the vehicle to deliver the new song. Mason was more than happy, as was longstanding bassist Guy Pratt, and musician, producer and composer Nitin Sawhney who played keyboards. The new track, which features a signature Gilmour guitar solo, has been layered with Khlyvnyuk’s sampled vocal to provide the final result.
All proceeds from 'Hey Hey Rise Up' will go to support Humanitarian Relief for the people of Ukraine.
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