Evidently not one for squatting on his laurels--years of pre-fame self-sufficiency has seen to that--Gray has toiled towards new horizons, drafting in an external producer for the first time. Marius De Vries, whose duties grace the more recent works of Bjork, Madonna and Rufus Wainwright, adds a more poetic dimension to such Thomas Hardy-esque musical landscapes as "Now And Always" and "Nos Da Cariad", where the negligibility of human emotion is contrasted with the raw omnipotence of the environment and the succinct brutality of existence. Not that Gray is a total mope; "The One I Love"--a paean to life expressed through the lips of a dying battlefield casualty--is a fine, if anomalistic, pop song in the Springsteen tradition and the cinematic sweetness of "Alibi" disguises its hair-tearing, long-distance estrangement in one of Gray's more superlative radio friendly tunes.

Life In Slow Motion might well be David Gray's darkest hour yet but for homogeneity, ambition and self-expression it's also his most realised record by some distance. --Kevin Maidment

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From the Label
Recorded between October 2003 and May 2005, David took a different approach to writing and recording Life In Slow Motion. Of the change, David says, "I don’t think you can remain the underdog forever and work in that way. I really wanted to get away from that lo-fi bedroom programming. All the records that have inspired me this time have been far more of a soundscape. The Sigur Ros records, Sparklehorse’s It’s A Wonderful Life, Lucinda Williams’ World Without Tears and albums like Deserter’s Songs, where things are more architectural." From the sparse, structured intro of the opener, "Alibi", a song David describes as ‘like "Babylon" Part 2 but more abstract... catching up with the character a few years down the line when they’re a bit worse for wear,’ to "The One I Love", as beautiful a song about bleeding to death as you’re ever likely to hear, and the inspirational fire of "Nos Da Cariad" (Welsh for ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’) it’s clear that Life In Slow Motion is a distinct departure from his earlier work. Two compositions on Life In Slow Motion - "From Here You Can Almost See The Sea" and "Ain’t No Love"--come from David’s work on the soundtrack for Amma Assante’s debut film A Way Of Life (released in 2004). The songs landed David a 2005 BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award nomination for Best New British Composer.

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