David Gray – ‘A New Day at Midnight’

By Peter Boskey

David Gray displays his unmatched talent yet again on his latest album, “A New Day at Midnight.”

Although it has been four years since the release of his last album, “White Ladder,” Gray has not lost his touch.

-The album is composed of 12 tracks and carries the listener through several moods and emotions. “Dead in the Water,” a lingering, uplifting song, starts the album off perfectly. The next song, “Caroline,” has an upbeat melody over an electronic drum beat and is reminiscent of “Please Forgive Me” off “White Ladder.”

“Long Distance Call”gives off a trippy vibe with its combination of Latin percussion and Wurlitzer electric piano. A brass quintet opens “Freedom,” a song about how nothing lasts forever. It is very simple and slow with a droning bass line – a little different for a David Gray song.

“Kangaroo” has the same sound as “Sail Away” off his last album, with a low-fidelity-sampled drumbeat backing the acoustic guitar and bass.

“Last Boat to America” has an electric piano with heavy vibrato on it with a marimba playing a simple melody in the background. It is kind of depressing, but then again, it would not be a David Gray album with out at least one sad song.

“Real Love” is the opposite of “Last Boat.” It is an uplifting song where Gray’s poetic beauty is seen in full effect, with lyrics such as “This world in all its clarity is glorious, is fake/ This world in all its vanity is more than I can take.”

“Easy Way to Cry” describes the pain of breaking up; “Faith gone from your eyes/ Each word it flies/ Straight to the heart and I know/ Watching you go/ There ain’t no easy way to cry.”

“White Ladder” is a hard album to match, but Gray did it with “A New Day at Midnight.”