By the time most of us took to David Gray, the songwriter's talent had fully bloomed and matured quietly away from limelight. Dropped by UK majors after three albums, he had written his self-financed fourth, releasing it on his own IHT label.
Thus the world received 'White Ladder', a virtually flawless, utterly whole collection of warmly emotive, piano-led, timeless pop, with a wholly humble human heart. Ireland took Gray to its bosom - it's the country's biggest selling album of all time - and the UK duly followed, with sales of over 2.3 million. A prime example of ability shining through without the need for glitz, gimmicks and gossip.
Four years on and Gray has chosen to follow-up his huge success with a more subtle and understated work. For, while not much of a departure from the honed formula of 'White Ladder', much of 'A New Day At Midnight' opts to pare down that winning mix of gentle dance beats and piano even further, leaving Gray's gorgeous gutsy vocal to do more of the talking on his melancholy tales of love and loss.
Much of 'A New Day...' has the feeling of early morning about it. Of cold clear light, of space, peace and cozy, half-awake, first-coffee-of-the-day optimism. And while, after only a few plays there aren't immediately obvious successors to the like of 'Babylon', 'Sail Away' and 'This Year's Love', there are promising slowburners - ominous opener 'Dead In The Water', the Hovis brass, sombre keys and muffled beats of 'Freedom', the somnambulant balladeering of 'Last Boat To America' and the straightforward, soulful, piano-led closer 'The Other Side'.
'White Ladder', like Moby's 'Play' or Coldplay's 'Parachutes', defined a moment. Indeed, still, on many occasions no other album will do. It's a timeless classic, which has notched up 130 weeks in the UK chart. And while 'A New Day At Midnight' is a fine album, it's hard to imagine it mirroring those achievements.
