The iconic British rock band Pink Floyd is releasing a new album next month, featuring a track starring the physicist Stephen Hawking called Talkin’ Hawkin’.
Fans of the Floyd don’t need to have been to the dark side of the moon to know that this isn’t the first time the genius scientist has appeared on one of the band’s albums.
Hawking’s voice, which is digitally produced by a computer, was previously sampled in the Pink Floyd track ‘Talk to Me’ on the album The Division Bell. The recording of Hawking was taken from a 1994 British Telecom advert that featured the physicist.
The new album, The Endless River, is a selection of re-mixes, and fans are speculating that Talkin’ Hawkin’ is a sequel of sorts to the 1994 track.
The Endless River sees no musical contribution from Roger Waters, who famously walked away from Pink Floyd in 1985. While fans have expressed disappointment with his creative absence, Waters was typically disinterested, saying in a statement: “This is not rocket science people, get a grip.”
Pink Floyd’s keyboardist, Richard Wright, passed away in 2008 and is credited as writer or co-writer for 12 tracks. David Gilmour sings lead vocals on ‘Louder Than Words’ and backing vocals on three other tracks. The string quartet Escala also features on ‘Louder Than Words’.
The November 10th release marks the first Pink Floyd album in 20 years, and you can hear the teaser trailer here:
