Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour released his first new song in five years, “Yes, I Have Ghosts.” The song first appeared a month ago, in his wife Polly Samson’s audiobook A Theatre for Dreamers. Gilmour’s daughter, Romany Gilmour, supplied backing vocals for “Yes, I Have Ghosts.”
Gilmour strums his acoustic guitar amid soft strings, Romany Gilmour’s voice flowing quietly alongside her father’s. David Gilmour’s deep voice weaves through the acoustic sounds, strings singing subtly below him. Celtic strings join Gilmour’s dancing strums, carrying through until the end of the song. David and Romany Gilmour harmonize beautifully, her voice brushing over his slightly rough sound.
“I was working on this song just as we went into lockdown and had to cancel a session with backing singers but, as it turned out, the solution was right here and I couldn’t be happier with the way Romandy’s voice blends with mine and her beautiful harp playing has been another revelation,” Gilmour said in a press statement.
Samson had written the lyrics for “Yes, I Have Ghosts,” as she has done for many of Gilmour and Pink Floyd’s songs. The song was not available as a standalone until this week, working in collaboration with Samson’s A Theatre for Dreamers. Gilmour had said he believes more authors and musicians should work towards more collaborations, stating that “the two worlds seem to seamlessly link.”
“Collaborating with David – as I have done many times over the last 30 years, writing songs for both Pink Floyd and his solo albums – we were able to bring together the worlds of literature and music to enhance the listening experience and connect with audiences in a way which I don’t think has been done before,” Samson said in a press statement.
David Gilmour rose to fame following his addition to psychedelic and progressive rock band, Pink Floyd. Gilmour replaced Syd Barrett with guitar in 1967, and helped with the creation of Pink Floyd’s iconic albums, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, along with many others. Pink Floyd disbanded in 1994, after a 27 year run. The band did a one-off reunion performance in 2008, and released their last studio album, The Endless River, in 2014. The album came from unreleased material off of 1994’s The Division Bell. Roger Waters, Pink Floyd’s frontman, recently told Rolling Stone he does not see the band reuniting. Waters had left the band in 1985, and had not been included on 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell.