Why 'The Endless River' Was Pink Floyd’s Final Album — And How It Was Made from Unused Tracks

The most interesting thing about The Endless River is that it’s almost entirely built from recordings nobody thought would see the light of day — leftover jams and demos from the The Division Bell sessions, back in 1993. After Richard Wright died in 2008, David Gilmour and Nick Mason dug through the old tapes and decided to shape them into a tribute. The result is an ambient, mostly instrumental album that functions as a farewell to Wright.

Only about 20 minutes of new material was recorded in 2013-2014. The rest is Wright’s original keyboard work, with Gilmour adding guitar and vocals later. One track, “Louder Than Words,” has lyrics — written by Polly Samson — that explicitly address the band’s complicated relationships. Gilmour considers the album the third part of a trilogy with The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.

Why release it as Pink Floyd’s final statement? Gilmour said he felt the band had run its course. Without Wright, who had been a driving force in those ambient textures, there wasn’t a reason to