New Mix: Pink Floyd, Patrick Watson, Sonny Singh, more
Top row, left to right: Sonny Singh, Charlie Hickey, The Good Ones; Bottom row: Pink Floyd (left to right: Nitin Sawhney, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Guy Pratt) Courtesy of the artists hide caption
This edition of All Songs Considered has the first new music Pink Floyd has recorded together since 1994's The Division Bell, 28 years ago. The song, "Hey, Hey, Rise Up," was inspired by an Instagram video sent to Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour by his Ukrainian daughter-in-law. The video shows a man singing a Ukrainian protest song in an eerily empty square in Kyiv. That singer is Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox. David Gilmour and Nick Mason assembled a recording session in a barn and included the recording Andriy Khlyvnyuk made in that Kyiv square and a Ukrainian choir.
Another uplifting song comes with a Punjabi spirit and is based on a 16th-century poem, propelled by brass and percussion. The musician leading the ensemble is Sonny Singh who's also part of the ensemble Red Baraat. The song "Aisee Preet" is from his debut album Chardi Kala.
I have more brass for you from the New Orleans band Tuba Skinny. The ensemble has put out 13 albums of American roots and traditional jazz, but for their new record Magnolia Stroll, they've put together their first-ever all-original tunes with a New Orleans spirit.
Patrick Watson is an outstanding storyteller and on his new song, "Heart of the Feeling," he's joined by singer Ariel Engle (also known as La Force) and a mix of modular synthesizers to flesh out his sound. There's new music from Charlie Hickey and the lead-off track to his debut album on Phoebe Bridgers' Saddest Factory Records, called Nervous At Night. I take us out on a powerful song from the Rwanda group known as The Good Ones. The song from their album Rwanda...You See Ghosts, I See Sky is filled with a deep wish and is titled, "I Dream Someday to Have a Home."