Pink Floyd reunite to release Hey, Hey, Rise Up in support of Ukraine
The single’s proceeds will be directed to relief efforts in Ukraine.
Image: Press
Pink Floyd have made a surprise return to release their first new music in 28 years, in support of relief efforts in the Ukraine.
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Hey, Hey, Rise Up, a single which samples a vocal performance from Ukrainian musician Andriy Khlynyuk arrived earlier today (8 April) with a video shot by Mat Whitecross.
This marks the progressive rock group’s first new original music out since The Division Bell from 1994.
This iteration of Pink Floyd comprises David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney (keyboards).
Said Gilmour in a press statement for the song: “I hope it will receive wide support and publicity.”
“We want to raise funds for humanitarian charities, and raise morale. We want [to] express our support for Ukraine and in that way, show that most of the world thinks that it is totally wrong for a superpower to invade the independent democratic country that Ukraine has become,” he said.
Gilmour, who has family ties in Ukraine, added: “We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world’s major powers.”
The sample featured in the track derives from a viral video, where Khlyvnyuk sings Oh, The Red Viburnum In The Meadow, a patriotic song in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square. The singer’s moving performance inspired Gilmour to work on Hey, Hey, Rise Up.
“I thought: that is pretty magical and maybe I can do something with this,” Gilmour told the Guardian. “I’ve got a big platform that [Pink Floyd] have worked on for all these years. It’s a really difficult and frustrating thing to see this extraordinarily crazy, unjust attack by a major power on an independent, peaceful, democratic nation. The frustration of seeing that and thinking ‘what the fuck can I do?’ is sort of unbearable.”
Трішки мотивації від лідера гурту «Б умбокс» Андрія Хливнюка 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/VQFdRjahGF
— Armed Forces 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@ArmedForcesUkr) February 28, 2022
Gilmour, who has family ties in Ukraine, previously called for peace in a statement on social media, where he urged Russian troops to “stop killing your brothers.”
“My daughter-in-law is Ukrainian and my grand-daughters want to visit and know their beautiful country. Stop this before it is all destroyed,” he wrote on Twitter (1 March).