‘Endless River’ grew out of unreleased recordings from 20 years ago

Gilmour and Mason returned to series of ambient, lyricless recordings from the same period as Pink Floyd’s last album, 1994’s ‘The Division Bell,’ to complete ‘The Endless River.’ These secondary sessions began in late 2013. Additional drumming from Mason was the first new element to be added.

The album includes some of Richard Wright’s final recordings

The initial leak on this surprise project, courtesy of Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson, framed ‘The Endless River’ as Wright’s “swansong” — putting into perspective, once more, what the keyboardist meant to Pink Floyd. His 2008 death led many to believe that ‘The Division Bell’ would be the group’s final recording. ‘The Endless River’ includes work by Wright from as far back as 1969. In all, he is credited with writing or co-writing 12 songs.