Life in slow motion
David Gray
Singer/song writer David Gray was born in Manchester in 1968. By The time he was nine years old he had moved to Wales with his family whew he was raised until he left to study at the University of Liverpool.
He began playing in punk bands also began to experiment with a more poetic form of writing. After Liverpool he moved to London where he could be closer to the action and the heart of the music business. He soon signed to Hut records in the UK and Caroline In the U.S. His first release followed shortly afterwards ' the single 'Birds without Wings ' in 1992.
His debut album, ‘A Century Ends’ was released to great acclaim in the 1993, becoming a classic in it’s own right. Following a European tour, David returned to the UK to record his second album, ‘Flesh’, which was released the following year. A lack of support from his label lead David to sign with EMI Records.
Gray's third album ‘Sell, Sell, Sell’, was released by EMI in 1996. For some reason the release was restricted to the UK and Ireland despite mainland Europe crying out for more of his material. Live performances continued to be David Gray's forte, selling out venues wherever he toured.
Gray's fourth album, ‘White Ladder’, was self financed, recording in his own bedroom and was released through his own label, IHT. It owes as much to the sampler as to the guitar but retains David's distinctive touches, the wishful vocals and sublime melodies.
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE UNIQUE DAVID GRAY VIDEOS
White Ladder went straight into the Irish Top 30 and shot up the charts as his sold out December Tour of Ireland wended its way around the country. ‘This Year's Love’ was released as the first single from ‘White Ladder’, shortly followed by David’s most successful hit, ‘Babylon’.
The good fortune continued as former road pal Dave Matthews (who had taken a liking to Gray during their shared tour) made White Ladder the first release on his own ATO Records imprint in 2000, and the album went on to enjoy multi-platinum sales.
Gray celebrated his mounting recognition by issuing a handful of albums in 2001, including the compilations ‘Lost Songs 95-98’ and ‘EPs 92-94’ as well as reissues of ‘A Century Ends’ and ‘Flesh’.
Gray worked with producer Marius de Vries (Björk, Rufus Wainwright) for 2005's ‘Life in Slow Motion’; and the reflective album debuted at the top of the charts in both Ireland and the U.K., giving Gray the highest chart rankings of his career. The singer then cobbled together his older material for 2007's ‘Shine: The Best of the Early Years’. The career-spanning Greatest Hits followed that fall, featuring two new tracks as well as Gray's most popular numbers.
Once again, David Gray found himself without a record label as he prepared to work on his eighth studio album. After setting up shop in his own studio, the Church Studios, Gray began shaping his first set of original material since 2005. Vocalists Annie Lennox and Jolie Holland joined him on several songs, and the resulting ‘Draw the Line’ was released September 2009 by Gray's new label, Polydor Records.
Carly Page
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
