Comedian, actor and artist Noel Fielding of The Mighty Boosh and The Great British Bake Off fame, has been expanding on his love of Pink Floyd.
Yesterday, as part of their ongoing publicity for the 50th anniversary reissue of the band's ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd shared a new stereo mix of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, presented for the first time as a single continuous piece of music, and presented Fiedling painting both Syd Barrett, the band's founding member who left in 1968, and whose legend is celebrated in the lyrics to Shine On.... and the band.
"My relationship with Syd Barrett has always been constant," says Fielding in a new video. "He was always my favourite. I love Gilmour and I love all the Pink Floyd and they're amazing, but Syd was like this beacon. He's like 1966. Obviously psychedelic but with that 1966 purity. I liked his style, I liked his walk, I liked the way he talked. There's something very English about Syd Barrett - gardens, flowers, sheds, ponds, dragonflies, it's very specific. I think that's why Americans love it."
Barrett famously turned up at Abbey Road Studios while the band were beginning the final mixes of the track, only for none of the band to initially recognise the new appearance of their former frontman.
"The fact that he turned up," Feilding continues. "How did he know it was happening? How did he get there? I think about that. Often. Who told him? Did he get a cab? How did he even know? It's so bizarre. It sounds like a made-up story, but there are photographs of him in the studio. Obviously, it was really traumatic for them. I think about that a lot. Was he happy? What did he do? What was he thinking? Was he painting again?"
Fielding's paintings follows Dear Pink Floyd, a new poem written and performed by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, which was unveiled last month to celebrate Wish You Were Here at 50.
"What a cover," Feuilding adds. "Those two men shaking hands, and one's on fire. It's like Magritte image or something. And like the Dark Side Of The Moon cover as well. Incredible. The artwork was as good as the music. But it was also timeless. Who are these people? Who are the Pink Floyd? What does it mean? And the music is perfectly in sync with the visuals."
Wish You Were Here 50 will be released through Sony Music on December 12 as a Deluxe box set, a Blu-ray edition, which features three concert screen films from the band’s 1975 tour, plus a Storm Thorgerson short film, and on 3LP and 2CD formats, which include the original album and nine studio bonus tracks.
Pre-order Wish You Were Here 50.
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