David Gray

David Gray is back doing what he does better than almost anyone, and fans of complex, serious, lyrical songcraft should rejoice. Dear Life may be the deepest, strangest, loveliest album this pioneering British singer-songwriter has ever delivered. Years in the making, it is an album of emotional crisis and resolution, mortality and faith, reality and illusion, love and heartbreak, magic, science, loss and acceptance. Dear Life is David Gray’s 13th album, featuring 13 new songs, with an additional 2 tracks included on the CD and LP formats. By his own admission, it is his “most lyrical record”, made in close collaboration with producer Ben de Vries. Dear Life contemplates “the beautiful thing that we all treasure,” with a suggestion of a formal address - as if the writer is composing a letter to life itself. Some songs tenderly grapple with relationship choices and consequences, some face mortality and loss, some boldly tackle the biggest questions of existence: the unknowable nature of love, our place in the universe, the prospect of apocalyptic change. There is a playfulness at work too, and a strong female presence throughout, with vocals from David’s musician daughter Florence Gray on several songs, and a punchy duet with rising star Talia Rae on first single, “Plus & Minus.” Gray is a multi-million selling arena artist who made one of the bestselling British albums of the 21st century, the blockbuster White Ladder , which pushed his intense and passionate blend of acoustics and electronica into the pop spotlight. Whilst huge stars from Adele to Hozier to Ed Sheeran have acknowledged Gray’s profound impact and influence, Gray himself has continued to plough his own furrow, relentlessly seeking out a purity of expression. Dear Life is a big statement, the work of a driven man obsessively focussed on a personal artistic journey. “I’m feeling very joyful about the act of making and sharing this music - and privileged to be doing so. I don’t know what people will make of it. But I have the same hopes and dreams whenever I release a record - that if you try and do something special, then maybe something magical will happen in return.”