David Gilmour has released the third single from his forthcoming album Luck and Strange, “Dark and Velvet Nights”. Written by David Gilmour and Polly Samson, “Dark and Velvet Nights” came from a poem Samson had written.

Compared to the prog/art rock direction of the first two singles from Luck and Strange, “Dark and Velvet Nights” moves in the opposite direction. Favoring slower jam session instrumentation and projecting a sound that is reminiscent of Gilmour’s work in Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were), “Dark and Velvet Nights” lays down a tight groove backed by Gilmour’s guitarwork, that will have any fan of Gilmour and Pink Floyd praising this track’s creativity and passion.

While the sound for “Dark and Velvet Nights” may be different from the previous two singles, the video for the song takes the same thematic cues as its predecessors. Showcasing the session play behind “Dark and Velvet Nights”, this video serves as another demonstration for Gilmour and company to display their chops behind the studio. Whether it’s Gilmour’s guitar playing, Will Gardner’s string and choral arrangements, Rob Gentry and Roger Eno’s keyboards or Steve Gadd and Tom Herbert on drums, everyone is bringing their chops to the limelight.

In a press release, David Gilmour explains more behind Polly’s poem and how the music and lyrics came together for this track:

“The music sprang out one day. It was so exciting to have come across this groove. Polly had given me a beautiful poem for our wedding anniversary, which was sitting on the desk right next to me. So, I picked it up and sang it on the track, to hear what it would sound like with words. I played it to Polly and she said, ‘Lovely, great, I’ll need to fiddle with it a bit.’ So, she added a couple of verse and there it was – very serendipitous.”