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David Gray
Life in Slow Motion
(ATO/RCA)
First Appeared in The Music Box, October 2005, Volume 12, #10
Written by John Metzger
Twelve years after releasing his debut, David Gray is still singing about
broken dreams, regret-filled lives, and doomed relationships, but what’s changed
is the maturity of his material. After scoring a hit with Babylon from
his self-financed outing White Ladder, he embraced the major label money
that inevitably came his way and used it on the subsequent A New Day at
Midnight to take a huge leap forward by smartly enhancing his signature
style with perfectly placed flourishes of orchestra and brass. Meanwhile, his
lyrics continued to sketch the bittersweet beauty of life’s ups and downs — even
as his musings turned more introspective and personal. Gray’s seventh and latest
endeavor Life in Slow Motion alters this approach only slightly, and most
of the differences between it and its predecessor are designed to refine his
work by further removing it from the skittering percussion that marked his
biggest successes.
During its weakest points, Life in Slow Motion sinks into
well-performed but largely uneventful background music, and when the collection
does fail, it is because Gray employs sophisticated, but superficial production
techniques in order to hide the flaws in his material. At its best, however, the
results are better than anything he ever has crafted. A case in point is
Alibi. Beginning quietly with a hushed but heavy-hearted string arrangement,
the tune blossoms elegantly into a cinematic masterpiece that is so grand and so
perfect that it sets a nearly unattainable level of expectation for the rest of
the effort. Fortunately, there are other worthwhile moments, even if they aren’t
quite the same caliber. The title track, for example, effectively pits the
suffocating sadness of its verses against the crashing waves of its chorus;
Lately is a torrent of emotion that was plucked straight from Van Morrison’s
brand of soulful folk-rock; and spoken from the perspective of a man who has
been left lying in a pool of his own blood, The One I Love finds solace
within the release that death brings. Indeed, Life in Slow Motion is
stuffed with towering songs that attempt to soar gracefully alongside the
majestic peaks of Elton John’s Madman Across the Water, and although
portions of the album fall short of Gray’s lofty aspirations, it’s a true
testament to his talent that he sometimes does reach them.  ½
Life in Slow Motion is available
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Life in Slow Motion [DUALDISC] is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005
The Music Box
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