Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Press

Cornerstones of British shoegaze Slowdive have paid tribute to the cracked genius of Pink Floyd’s former frontman Syd Barrett with a new rendition of ‘Golden Hair’.

Taking the original, which appeared on Syd Barret’s 1970 solo album recorded after exiting Pink Floyd The Madcap Laughs, the band have contorted the song into a 10-minute mass of ominous guitar and shimmering noise.

‘Golden Hair’ is a longstanding favorite of the band who first covered it on 1991 EP Holding Our Breath.

The song features regularly in the band’s live set.

This new version, recorded in 2014 at a Slowdive reunion show, arrives as part of record label Sonic Cathedral singles club.

‘Golden hair’ is, in a sense, a cover of Barrett’s own, with Syd taking inspiration for the song’s lyrics to form a 1907 poem by Ulysses author and novelist James Joyce.

Barrett, who was also recently praised by another UK musician Pete Townshend, passed away on July 7th, 2006.