Roger Waters releases video for his 'dark' new version of Comfortably Numb

(Image credit: Adam Berry\/Getty Images)

Roger Waters has reworked Pink Floyd classic Comfortably Numb into a dark new version, and has released a specially-made video for the reimagining of the hallmark Floyd anthem.

The track, originally on Pink Floyd's 1980 album The Wall, was re-recorded by Waters as an opening for his current This is Not A Drill tour. The new version sidesteps David Gilmour's famous guitar solos from the original, and features Gus Seyffert (bass, synth, percussion, vocals), Joey Waronker (drums), Dave Kilminster (vocals), Jonathan Wilson (harmonium, synth, guitar and vocals), Jon Carin (synth, vocals), Shanay Johnson (vocals), Amanda Belair (vocals) Robert Walter (organ/piano) and Nigel Godrich (strings, amp and backing vocal alongside Waters.

"During Lockdown I made a demo of a new version of Comfortably Numb as an opener for our new show This Is Not A Drill," Waters explains. "I pitched it a whole step down, in A Minor, to make it darker and arranged it with no solos, except over the outro chord sequence, where there is a heartrendingly beautiful female vocal solo from Shanay Johnson, one of our new singers."

The accompanying video was produced and directed by Sean Evans.

Waters will play three UK shows as part of his European and UK leg of the This Is Not A Drill tour next May, appearing at Birmingham on May 31 at the Utilita Arena, before moving on to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on June 2 and performing at London’s The O2 on June 6.

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Watch the video for Roger Waters' new version of Comfortably Numb below.

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.