Roger Waters has been re-recording the Pink Floyd album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’

Roger Waters has revealed that he has been re-recording ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, the 1973 album first released while he was a member of Pink Floyd.

Waters spoke of the re-recording in a profile by The Telegraph published yesterday (February 8). According to the newspaper, Waters’ solo version of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ has been “secretly” in the works for months, without the involvement or knowledge of Pink Floyd members David Gilmour and Nick Mason. Waters is said to have re-recorded the entire 10-song tracklist “from scratch”.

Besides Waters, the only contributors to the solo version are reportedly Waters’ longtime collaborator and tourmate Gus Seyffert, as well a “Baptist minister” who plays a Hammond organ. Seyffert’s girlfriend, the singer Bedouine, is also said to feature on the re-recording. When asked why he chose to revisit ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, Waters said: “Because not enough people recognised what it’s about, what it was I was saying then.”

The Telegraph reported that Waters is “planning a lavish vinyl release” of the re-recording, which is said to “prove a bit tricky” given Waters’ exit from Pink Floyd in 1985 and the band’s contentious interactions since. Though originally slated for release in March, representatives confirmed that the album had been pushed back to May as Waters continues “tinkering with the recordings”.

An accompanying launch concert was likewise postponed until May. Despite the delays, which also included a venue change for the concert, according to the Telegraph journalist Tristram Fane Saunders, representatives “assure[d] me the release is definitely happening.” Waters’ ‘Moon’ re-recording would follow his similar release last November, when he shared a ‘2022 version’ of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ song ‘Comfortably Numb’.

Saunders, who is reportedly one of only a “handful” of people who have listened to the solo version in full, described the re-recording as “very good” in “some parts”. Saunders praised Waters’ vocals, saying the new version of ‘Time’ “sounds terrific with his old man’s timbre.” He also described Waters’ version of album track ‘Breathe’ as a “wonderfully reimagined… slow, acoustic groove”, while comparing ‘Money’ to a “Johnny Cash cut” that is “country-tinged”.

Waters is said to have only played an instrument on one song, a “terrific bass solo” on a track called ‘Us and Them’”. In the re-recording, Waters reportedly added his own speaking voice over the original album’s instrumentals, including a “prose poem over ‘On The Run’”.

Preempting backlash from his former bandmates, whom he referred to as “Faux Floyd”, Waters told the Telegraph: “I wrote ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’. Let’s get rid of all this ‘we’ [crap]! Of course we were a band, there were four of us, we all contributed, but it’s my project and I wrote it. So… blah!”

Elsewhere in the profile, Waters detailed plans for an upcoming album titled ‘The Bar’, which is described as “a symbol for any place that welcomes open debate.” Waters has long been outspoken about his convictions – including a recent string of statements regarding the Ukraine-Russian war which culminated in Waters’ invitation by Russia to speak at the United Nations Security Council yesterday.

During his UN appearance, Waters reiterated his long-held stance that the Ukraine conflict was provoked, saying he “condemn[s] the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms.” Water concluded his address by calling “for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine – no ifs, no buts, no ands. Not one more Ukrainian or Russian life is to be spent, not one – they are all precious in our eyes.”

Prior to that, Waters gave an interview to the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung (a translated version of which appears on Waters’ website), in which he spoke of the role of the United States and President Joe Biden in the Ukraine conflict, saying America was “the main aggressor” and that the war was “provoked beyond all measure”. Waters also criticised Pink Floyd’s 2022 Ukraine charity single ‘Hey Hey Rise Up’, saying it “encourages the continuation of the war.”

Earlier this week, David Gilmour’s wife, author and Pink Floyd lyricist Polly Samson, shared a tweet branding Waters as “a Putin apologist”, calling him a “lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac.” Gilmour later re-shared the tweet with the caption: “every word [is] demonstrably true”.

Waters issued a statement in response to Samson’s comments, saying he “refutes [them] entirely” and that they are “incendiary and wildly inaccurate”. The musician said he is “taking advice as to his position” regarding Samson’s claims. NME has also contacted representatives for Waters for comment.

Last month, Pink Floyd announced a 50th anniversary reissue of ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’, which includes a live recording of the band’s 1974 Wembley Stadium gig and is due for release on March 24.

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