LONDON (AFP) - British rock legends Pink Floyd are set to release a new album called The Endless River in October, their first in 20 years.

"It is an album of mainly ambient and instrumental music," a statement on the band's website said on Monday.

"Work is still in progress, but more details to come at the end of the summer." The album will be based on recording sessions from 1993 and 1994, when the band were working on their The Division Bell album.

It will feature guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright, a founding member of the band who died in 2008.

Author Polly Samson, who wrote lyrics for the album and is married to Gilmour, described the record as "Rick Wright's swansong and very beautiful" in a tweet on Saturday.

The album is produced by Gilmour and Phil Manzanera, the lead guitarist of art rock band Roxy Music, together with recording engineer Andy Jackson.

Pink Floyd have sold over 250 million copies of albums such as Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here worldwide since they were founded in 1965.

The new album will be the band's first release since 1994's The Division Bell.

Backing singer Durga McBroom-Hudson, who has toured with the band, wrote in a Facebook posting that "there was much rejoicing" over the album and that she would feature on it.

She said that recording for the album had started during sessions for The Division Bell but the band had since done significantly more work on it.

Pink Floyd last played a concert at the Live 8 charity show in London in 2005 but it is not clear whether they will tour to promote the new album.