David Gilmour flexes his fretless bass skills in newly shared Yet Another Movie demo

David Gilmour has stoked the flames of the proverbial hype train for the upcoming reissue of Pink Floyd’s A Momentary Lapse Of Reason by sharing a previously unheard demo for Yet Another Movie.

And, unlike the original, which featured Gilmour’s gorgeous Fender Stratocaster musings, the demo for Yet Another Movie sees the guitar god wield a different instrument altogether: a fretless bass.

Owing to its unexpected instrumentation, the demo – as you’d expect – lends itself to be a wholly different listening experience. For starters, it’s entirely instrumental, with the absence of vocals making the already atmospheric ordeal even more ethereal and meditative.

Of course, the choice of bass makes for some interesting soundscapes, with Gilmour making ample use of the instrument’s fretless feature via some subtle rhythmic creations and a concoction of slide-spanning decorations.

Gilmour's adept bass playing shouldn't come as a surprise though – last year, Roger Waters' replacement, Guy Pratt, claimed that "David (Gilmour) played half the bass" on Pink Floyd's records up until his appointment.

Of the dreamy demo, Gilmour said in a statement, “I thought, this week, that we would put up the original demo, written by Pat Leonard and myself, for what was to become Yet Another Movie on the A Momentary Lapse Of Reason album. 

"Pat Leonard and I met up at Astoria in September 1986 a couple of days after I had played on a Bryan Ferry track that he was producing. We had a glass or two of wine and jammed for hours. 

“For some reason that I can no longer remember, I had chosen the fretless bass as my instrument of the day. It turned into a beautiful song.”

Gilmour went on to add that, years after the album’s release, he and Leonard wanted to “update it” in order to “make it more timeless” – a desire that directly led to the much-anticipated A Momentary Lapse Of Reason reissue.

“Some years after we had recorded the album,” he continued, “we came to the conclusion that we should update it to make it more timeless, featuring more of the traditional instruments that we liked and that we were more used to playing.

“This was something we thought it would benefit from. We also looked for and found some previously unused keyboard parts of Rick’s which helped us to come up with a new vibe, a new feeling for the album.”

A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, originally released in 1987, was Pink Floyd’s first outing following Roger Waters’ departure, and is set to be reissued for digital release on October 19 and physical format release on October 29 via Sony. 

The upcoming offering will be released alongside a “Remixed and Updated” edition on a number of physical platforms, and will also be available in 360 Reality Audio, which promises “a new immersive music experience that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of live musical performance”.

Gilmour – who has teased a sonic shift for his upcoming album – was recently called out by Waters, who said the guitarist and fellow bandmate Richard Wright were "snipe-y because they felt very insignificant" in Pink Floyd.

• A Momentary Lapse Of Reason reissue is available to preorder now.