David Gilmour explores the long journey toward Rattle That Lock in the above Spotify interview. It's a process, the Pink Floyd legend says, that gave welcome complexity to his new solo album.

"It's a pretty diverse album, it has to be said, but that's no bad thing," he says. "I've listened to too many albums where every track sounds pretty much the same as the previous one."

Rattle That Lock arrives almost a decade after Gilmour's last solo effort, On an Island. It's been a comparably short wait, however, compared to the 22-year span between that 2006 release and 1984's About Face. Gilmour says he learned a lot about his own need to polish and fine tune things after racing through a self-titled debut in 1978.

"I spent a long time making the Animals album and doing the Animals tour, and previous to that had done Wish You Were Here and The Dark Side of the Moon, and we were spending longer and longer in the studio," Gilmour says. "An enormous amount of care went on, and there was just a moment at that time when I thought, 'Wow, it would be quite fun to just to into a little studio, stick a couple of amps down with a couple of guys – and just practically jam an album, and see what happens.' It's something you kind of get out of your system, really. I did realize that I really do like spending a lot of time, and getting things dead right, and being a mad, obsessive perfectionist."

Rattle That Lock, as with On an Island and latter-day Pink Floyd recordings like 1994's The Division Bell and 2014's The Endless River, includes collaborations with poet Polly Samson, Gilmour's wife. During that time, Gilmour adds, their working relationship has also evolved.

"Polly's been writing words with me now for 20 years," Gilmour says. "In the beginning, she certainly thought it was best for her to be trying to work out what I would be saying – for me to be channeled in some way. I think on this album, we've gotten to the point now where she feels happy to use her own voice. If the words are great, they will sound fine coming from me or from her."

Over the years, Gilmour has also collaborated with Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney and Supertramp, as you can hear in the Spotify playlist below. They're included along side key solo cuts, Pink Floyd favorites and new songs from Rattle That Lock.

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