The first issue of new French magazine Thema Music celebrates Pink Floyd in a special publication devoted to the band.

The magazine, which is available in stores and news stands across France now, priced at €7,50, dedicates 84 pages to the Floyd, within an eye-catching cover. Those who have already seen the magazine have been praising the presentation and quality, with a note of how there are some possibly previously unseen images within. Many of you will be aware that French books and magazines seem to find many otherwise unpublished pictures of the band in action, particularly from the early 1970s, so irrespective of your Gallic language skills, it could well be worth picking up a copy of this.

The magazine includes coverage of the upcoming album The Endless River, has an exclusive interview with Roger Waters, and also looks at Syd Barrett, Storm Thorgerson, and the period when relations within Pink Floyd started to break down.

For those unable to pick up a copy from a store or street seller in France, it can be ordered internationally from www.journaux.fr. Our thanks in particular to Elliot Tayman and Julien Richard for their help with this.

Last Thursday, September 25th, Roger Waters appeared at the Russell Tribunal at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, in support of Palestinian people. His address to the assembled press can be viewed through this link and explains his view on the news, and how it is disseminated across the world (or not, in some cases). During his participation there, he played a new song Lay Down Jerusalem (If I Had Been God), about which he has talked about in a recent interview for Rolling Stone.

He was also interviewed by Daniel Fontaine (from RTBF) during the event, and the interview can be heard through this special Soundcloud link, and also below.

Our thanks to Jakub Barat, Pavel, and Stefano "Mr Pinky" Tarquini for their help with this story.

The announcement yesterday afternoon of The Endless River, Pink Floyd’s new album, released on November 10th, has taken the media world by storm. News outlets across the world, be them print, broadcast, or online, have been talking about the release. This was aided in part by the sleeve art appearing in various places such as London’s South Bank (an 8 metre cube showcasing the artwork!), New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Paris, Berlin and Milan. Pictures of these displays have appeared on the official Pink Floyd Facebook page if you want to check them out, and a picture of the London TER cube, kindly sent in by BD visitor Rob Brown, can be seen over at the Brain Damage Facebook page.

Aubrey “Po” Powell, Pink Floyd’s Creative Director - who celebrates his birthday today (many happy returns, Po!) - has been talking about the background to the atmospheric album cover. It was created by 18-year old Egyptian digital artist Ahmed Emad Eldin, and was an image which immediately appealed during their search for a suitable cover. “When we saw Ahmed’s image it had an instant Floydian resonance. It’s enigmatic and open to interpretation, and is the cover that works so well for The Endless River.”

In this morning’s breakfast show on the UK’s BBC Radio 6, Po discusses how they contacted a number of artists for their ideas of the album cover, with Damien Hurst concocting a staggering 60 ideas for their consideration! You can hear the interview on demand through this link (you might want to wind forward to the 1 hour and 45 minute mark for Po’s interview.

Elsewhere in the UK, published today is the monthly magazine Uncut (cover date November 2014, shown to the right) who present an Endless River Special. Inside the eye-catching cover showing a contemporary portrait of David Gilmour and Nick Mason is a fascinating eight-page article, giving an in-depth look at the project, interviewing the main protagonists: David, Nick, Andy Jackson, Phil Manzanera, and Youth. It’s a huge look at the album, and how it all came together, and an essential read. You can buy it now in all good UK stores, and in various stores worldwide shortly as an import.

This afternoon, full details have been revealed of the much anticipated The Endless River, Pink Floyd's new album which now has a confirmed release date of November 7th, 2014, in Australia and certain parts of Europe, November 10th in the US, the UK and other parts of Europe, and November 11th in Canada (plus some slight regional variations worldwide). The cover - shown here - already feels like a very suitable image, with typically Floydian restraint, and fitting the title.

The album will be available in three different configurations:

1. Standard CD: presented in a hard cover bound book package with foil blocking on cloth spine, and a 16-page photo/credit booklet including previously unseen photographs from 1993 sessions
2. Vinyl: Heavyweight 180 gram vinyl 2LP, mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab, Ojai, California, and presented in a gatefold sleeve, with full colour inner bags, download card, and a full size, 11" x 11" 16-page photo/credit booklet including previously unseen photographs from 1993 sessions
3. Deluxe 2-disc box: includes a 24-page photo/credit booklet in hard cover, including previously unseen photographs from 1993 sessions; CD in full colour card wallet with full colour label; DVD (NTSC) or Blu-Ray in full colour card wallet with full colour label; 3 x Collectors' full colour postcards, one of which with 3D Lenticular design. The DVD contains the album in 5.1 Surround (Dolby Digital and DTS), plus stereo version in 48kHz /24 bit. The Blu-Ray contains the album in high resolution 5.1 Surround (DTS Master Audio and PCM, 96/24), plus PCM stereo 96/24. The 2-disc box (DVD or Blu-ray) includes extra non-album audio-visual material (approx. 39 minutes): 6 video tracks and 3 audio tracks, unavailable elsewhere. It includes archive video material and still photographs shot at the original 1993 recording sessions

The Floyd's official website has been completely overhauled, and includes images of the various configurations (also shown here), along with some pictures of the original 1993 sessions, and a short TV commercial and a 30 second audio clip, both giving a flavour of what the album contains within. There's also the track listing, which we have below for you...