The Orb and David Gilmour, the guitar and voice of Pink Floyd, recently released ‘Metallic Spheres in Colour,’ an AI-backed visionary reinterpretation of 2010’s ‘Metallic Spheres.’ Now, fans can reimagine and recreate their own version of the ambient classic.
The following announcement was crafted on behalf of Sony Music Entertainment, a company DMN is proud to be partnered with.
Ground-breaking developments in AI are taking the world of music on unique journeys. Whether it’s the extraction of vocals from decades-old recordings to create record-breaking odes to past legends, the ability to embellish tracks with AI’s creative melodies, or delegating track creation 100% to AI — novel applications of artificial intelligence stretch the creative web of possibilities beyond imagination.
Leveraging artificial intelligence and its remarkable capabilities in music generation, The Orb and David Gilmour are expanding the remix project and handing the power of recreation to their fans. Listeners worldwide can craft their own version of music from the new album ‘Metallic Spheres in Colour’ and embed their emotions into AI-generated cover art.
Metallicspheres.io provides a suite of AI tools that fans can use to create a track with their own personal touch — remixed from portions of ‘Metallic Spheres In Colour.’
The process of reimagining the audio will include fans’ indication of their desired mood (chill to high-energy) and tempo (slow to fast). Taking the process further to remix the cover art, users listening to selections of musical movements from ‘Metallic Spheres In Colour’ (in a group setting) will be prompted to explain (as text) their emotions and feelings.
By integrating mood and tempo choices with fans’ communicated emotions, metallicspheres.io will generate a new version of the track that’s not only unique but also highly personalized. Additionally, AI will recraft new images that mimic the style of Simon Ghahary’s original for ‘Metallic Spheres in Colour’.
Fans can share these creations on social media and promote their reimagined, personalized playback alongside emotive album art.
According to Sony Music Entertainment, the coming weeks will also unlock the opportunity to purchase remixes as downloads. More significantly, a select few fan mixes of the ‘Metallic Spheres In Colour’ album cover (that are based on the original image by artist Ghahary), could gain the chance to be included in an upcoming music video supporting the album.
David Gilmour initially joined Pink Floyd in 1967 to cover for Syd Barrett, whose deteriorating mental health caused him to not want to perform, or often leave his bed. After Syd’s formal departure from the band in 1968, David was asked by his former Cambridge schoolmates if he could permanently join the band.
David’s contribution to Pink Floyd was essential to the band’s success. His light and airy vocals balanced Waters’ deeper vocals and harmonized beautifully with keyboardist Richard Wright. David’s guitar-playing style was unique and iconic. His long string bends and ability to shift his tone from jubilant and hopeful to dark and gritty within his work never ceases to impress.
In 1985, Roger Waters and the other members of Pink Floyd concluded their professional relationship. The band needed a leader, and David naturally stepped into that role. Writing much of the songs on studio albums ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ and ‘The Division Bell,’ the band would continue to succeed under David’s leadership. In 2005, David and Roger eventually reunited for one performance to benefit charity at the Live 8 concert. The two would appear again on stage in 2011 to perform ‘Comfortably Numb.’
Outside of Pink Floyd, Gilmour has been a prolific force in music — helping discover artists like Kate Bush and playing guitar for various songs including ‘Life in a Northern Town’ by The Dream Academy.
It’s worth noting that David is the type of person who is always willing to help his friends. He became close to Phil May, lead singer and songwriter of The Pretty Things — a fellow band with a history that overlaps Pink Floyd’s. While Pink Floyd was working on their debut album ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ at Abbey Road Studios, The Pretty Things were working on their 4th studio album (and first ever rock opera) ‘S.F. Sorrow’ (check out our exclusive interview with Phil May here). At times, Gilmour even allowed May to live in his garage. Later, Gilmour would appear at the live performance of S.F. Sorrow, performed by the band with David at Abbey Road Studios, and had the story narrated by Arthur Brown.
In 2019, David auctioned off a number of his guitars, donating a staggering $21,490,750 to charities. This included several iconic guitars, including his black Stratocaster — played on many of Pink Floyd’s greatest tracks — and also the Stratocaster with serial number 0001.
With such a prolific career in music, this release by David Gilmour is a landmark event. Releasing shortly after The Beatles’ 2023 release of ‘Now and Then,’ ‘Metallic Spheres in Colour’ is not only an exciting release, but also a validation of AI’s growing relevance to the music industry.
