If there was ever a cause to rally Pink Floyd back together as a band, this is it. The band has always questioned establishment politics and stood against war and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has seen David Gilmour (whose daughter-in-law is Ukrainian) and the band previously pulling their music from Russian streaming services. Now, Pink Floyd has come together again for their first original song since 1994 in the brand new “Hey, Hey Rise Up,” featuring Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the singer of the Ukrainian band BoomBox. (The band’s 2014 album The Division Bell was based on material recorded for 1994’s The Division Bell.)
As Pitchfork reports, the Pink Floyd lineup for the song features David Gilmour and Nick Mason with bassist Guy Pratt and keyboardist Nitin Sawhney. The song features Gilmour’s signature prog-y guitar, as the band plays to Khlyvnyuk singing the traditional Ukrainian song, “The Red Viburnum In The Meadow.” The video for the track sees the band playing with a clip of Khlyvnyuk singing in the background, while images from the war are also cut into the footage. As the clip opens, Pink Floyd relay the following message:
“On 24 February, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine.
BoomBox singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk ended his US tour and returned home to Kiyv to defend his country.
Three days later, he posted a video on Instagram , singing the Ukrainian song ‘The Red Viburnum In The Meadow.’
Now Pink Floyd has joined with Andriy to support his message of resistance.”
All of the proceeds from the track will benefit the Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund. This is a momentous release, as the last time Pink Floyd release original music was 1994’s The Division Bell.
Watch the video for “Hey, Hey Rise Up” above.
