
Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
1:00 AM 25th January 2025
arts
Review
Albums: David Gray Dear Life
David Gray Dear Life
After The Harvest; Plus & Minus (ft. Talia Rae); Eyes Made Rain; Leave Taking; I Saw Love; Fighting Talk; Sunlight On Water; That Day Must Surely Come; Singing For Pharoah; Acceptance (It's Alright); Future Bride; The Only Ones; The First Stone
Label: Laugh A Minute Records
David Gray is the man behind the UK's tenth best-selling album of the 21st century,
White Ladder. Released five years into his recording career, the runaway success of his breakout single,
Babylon, saw him at the forefront of the change in pace of the UK's music scene. Arriving at the height of Britpop, his arrival marked a move towards the singer/songwriter love affair that inspired the likes of Ed Sheeran and James Blunt to make their equally impressive dents into the hearts of the music-loving public.
As he reaches his thirteenth studio album, Dear Life, David Gray is found once again in contemplative terrain. With his back catalogue having shown his diversity as an artist, his last studio album—Skellig—landed him in more folk-driven terrain. Dear Life has strong echoes of the sound that saw him solidify his place in iconic terrain while also demonstrating the growth in his artistry in the period since.
The strength of
Dear Life is that it encompasses all the highs and lows of the human experience in a truly relatable fashion. Gray has a way with words that is touching, approachable, and real. He is not trying to be something he isn't; he is simply relating his world to that of his listener. In doing so, we are able to share in the joy, the fear, the hope, and the heartbreak. We can relate and reflect within our listening experience while being truly uplifted by the beauty in his compositions.
Having teamed up with upcoming singer/songwriter Talia Rae on the striking
Plus & Minus, 2024 saw Gray deliver one of his finest singles to date, and it proves itself a perfect teaser for the body of work that follows. From the reflective uplift of
Acceptance (It's Alright) through to the truly luscious
Eyes Made Rain, this is an album that has twists and turns but never forgets its heart.
Dear Life is a stunning collection that will be remembered as one of Gray's finest moments.