Rattle That Lock (2015)

It was nine years between David Gilmour's third and fourth solo album, "Rattle That Lock," which came out in 2015. It likely would have been released earlier, if work hadn't been interupted by "The Endless River," the final Pink Floyd album culled from recordings made during "The Division Bell" sessions 20 years earlier and released in November '14.

Two albums of new Floyd-related material released just 10 months from one another is likely something fans won't see again.

Work on "Rattle That Lock" had been going on for about five years at Medina Studio in Hove and Gilmour's houseboat studio Astoria, moored on the Thames. Though Gilmour recorded at least one segment, the piano from "A Boat Lies Waiting," a tribute to Rick Wright, some 18 years previous in his home with his then-infant son, Gabriel, heard cooing in the background. The track also features a short spoken clip from Wright.

With three instrumentals and seven tracks with lyrics, the album's first single was the title track. The song's based on a four-note musical "logo" used by French rail system SNCF, which Gilmour sampled on his iPhone while waiting for a train at Aix-en-Provence.

Consequently, the jingle's composer, Michael Boumendil of marketing agency Sixieme Son in Paris, is co-writer of the song. Aside from Gilmour and his songwriting partner and wife, Polly Samson, he is the only other songwriter credited on the album.

When he first got the phone message from Gilmour, Boumendil expected it might be a friend playing a prank, so didn't immediately return the call. (Listen to our interview with Boumendil.)

Gilmour, somewhat notorious for shying away from lyric writing, wrote words for two songs on the album: "Faces of Stone," about his mother's passing; and "Dancing Right in Front of Me," inspired by his children.

The single "Rattle That Lock" got its first radio airplay on BBC Radio 2's The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on July 17, 2015.

The album's second single, "Today," was released Sept. 4. Samson sings backing vocals on the track.

The album was released in two versions: a standard CD issued in a clothbound booklet; and a deluxe edition with CD and DVD/Blu-ray disc, which includes bonus material such as "barn jam" recordings made in January 2007 featuring Wright.

Co-produced by Gilmour and Phil Manzanera, the album features many musicians and vocalists who have worked with Gilmour in the past: Jon Carin, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jools Holland, Guy Pratt, Robert Wyatt and early Floyd member Rado Klose, to name just a few.

The album debuted at #1 on the U.K.'s Official Album Chart. His previous solo album, "On an Island," did the same in 2006, as did Floyd's "The Endless River" in November '14.