'The simplest stuff is the best' - David Gray. The EP's 92-94
Written: Jul 05 '04 (Updated Jul 06 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Uncomplicated, beautiful, poetic. Will quietly rock you to your acoustic core.
Cons: Uneven pacing throughout album, a few 'less than amazing' tracks, but that's it.
The Bottom Line: 'The simplest stuff is the best' said Gray of this album. A solid collection of genuine rarities, fresh and inspiring, soulful and raw. Here he is in his unfettered essence.
spiderkid's Full Review: The Ep's 92-94 by David Gray (Rock)
Before I begin
Not so long ago I decided to host my very first Write Off here at Epinions, the challenge therein being to review something which is inherently British. (If you're really interested you can read the sordid details here )
And so, shameless self-promotion aside, I thought I'd better pick up my own gauntlet and show the rest of the world just what the 'best of British' really looks like.
Of course, there was a plethora of home-grown talent to choose from, so I thought I'd narrow it down by quite simply reviewing what was currently sitting in my CD player. Ah the God's of serendipity smileth kindly upon me.
Yes folks, it's Mancunian, 'voice of the streets', folksy poet David Gray who has been chosen to carry the flame for British music once again.
The album
'The EP's 92-94' is, surprisingly, exactly what it says it is - a collection of EP's spanning 92-94. Tell it like it is David. Similar to his more recent 'Lost Songs' (which picks up the period 95-98) this collection contains a number of favourites from his previous three albums with a few unheard tracks interspersed for good measure.
Reflective, soulful, intimate, occasionally scathing, often soothing yet always honest to the core, this collection provides an excellent insight into the formative years of one of Britain’s most gifted singer song writers. If you find yourself without the time, money or inclination to purchase his first three albums, but still want to capture the raw essence of his early years, this album offers an excellent musical résumé, with glimpses of genius aplenty.
Gray himself says of this collection: ”If you like I was working in black and white when I was just with the acoustic guitar back then. And that was what I was best at.” And he really wasn’t just being modest.
The songs
The album opens with Birds Without Wings (taken from 'A Centaury Ends') and Gray starts as he means to go on. Just him, a guitar and his soul, bared with the candid sincerity which has become something of trade mark. 'These are just thoughts on lacklustre times' he croons as his message of caution in the face of indifference rolls out with melodic simplicity.
Without the courage to give a new thing a chance
Grounded by this ignorance
When the cat comes
We're just birds without wings'
L's Song is a B-side which will be new to all but his most ardent fans. Just Gray and the guitar once more, this wistful love-lost song rolls along gently with characteristic off-kilter strumming and rusty vocals. Pervaded by a bleak sense of regret the lyrics still manage to paint a rich picture as we feel the yearning of a lost love:
And down the crooked pavements
The wind blows my thoughts like a leaf
The brittle bell chimes
And fortune smiles with it's broken teeth
And the many-rivered land
Grateful for the rain
I'd be grateful for one morsel
Of your lovin' again'
The Light (taken from 'Flesh') ups the pace a little as Gray is accompanied by piano and guitars. The tempo is hurried and the whole song sounds like it's running away with it’s own momentum, until Gray skilfully reigns it in, tones it down and speeds it up again, like a skilled cowboy on an untamed horse. And interspersed between the metaphor-filled lyrics you'll find some pretty nifty slide guitar, just to keep you on your toes.
Oh to be able to write like this... you'd never have to sleep on the couch ever again!
You turn out the light
And the dark sucks on the embers of the fire
My heart smoulders in the night
And these tumbling boulders of desire
Come rollin' out of the shadows at me'
Next comes Shine (A Centaury Ends).
You know how sometimes you find yourself in a situation where your emotions are so wrapped up in themselves that you just can't seem to frame them into words that make any sense. And then you hear a song, or read a poem, and think 'That's it! That's exactly how I feel!'? (Or is it just me?)
Well, Shine is one of those songs. It talks about that point in a relationship when two people realise that through no deliberate fault, and with no malice or ill intent, no hatred, betrayal or bitterness, love has simply changed, cooled and faded. You both know it's the end, and one of you has to say something. You both know that you can't go on like this, but are afraid of facing life without someone by your side. You want to release each other, but don't want to loose the love, the comfort and the companionship. It's the sad junction that you were destined to reach, and all you want to do is turn around and go back to the start again. Deep down you know it'll be ok, but there's so much confusion and uncertainty right now, that you don't know how to express it. You have to say 'goodbye' but all you want to say is 'come back!'.
Well, suffice to say, I found myself there once. And when I discovered this song I felt like David Gray had written it from inside my own tangled emotions.
'I can see it in your eyes
What I know in my heart is true
That our love it has faded
Like the summer run through'
The guitar strums with a positive rhythm, determined but not aggressive - resolute yet sensitive.
So we'll walk down the shoreline one last time together
Feel the wind blow our wandering hearts like a feather
But who knows what's waiting in the wings of time
Dry your eyes - we're gonna go where we can shine.
On the word 'shine' a deep bass note kicks in and somehow lifts the track onto a new level. That's it, the truth's out now, there's no way back, but the song doesn't hang around to wallow in it's own tragic melancholy, that's not how you shine.
Don't be hiding in sorrow or clinging to the past
With your beauty so precious and the seasons so fast
No matter how cold the horizon appears
Or how far the first night when I held you near
You gotta rise from these ashes like a bird of flame
Step out of the shadow
We've gotta go where we can shine'
And suddenly things have changed. The bitter-longing has gone, the regret of the unchangeable past is giving way to a vision of a bright future. And you're picked up by the pace of the song and carried along to somewhere completely unexpected. The lovers are being called to walk each other through, to the other side, hand in hand. The cruel separation has been transformed into one last, poignant act of love. The challenge is laid out, to release each other to be who each were called to be, to be free to shine again.
And as we come to the end of the second verse a piano joins the harmony as Gray takes off in an abandoned, almost celebratory chorus of 'Naa naa na na na na na naa's... which then blend seamlessly into the final verse
For all that we struggle, for all we pretend
It don't come down to nothing except love in the end
And ours is a road which is strewn with goodbyes
But as it unfolds, as it all unwinds
Remember your soul is the one thing you can't compromise
Take my hand
We're gonna go where we can shine
And he sings the word 'shine' like he really means it.
You could call this 'A love song for breaking up' and in an odd way it is. For that rare situation where two people realise that the most loving thing they can do for each other, is to let each other go. (And when they actually mean it, and one person isn't simply saying it to 'soften the blow' because they've actually started seeing someone else!)
The next track 'Brick Walls' (another B-side) has a much fuller sound than the previous songs with electric guitars, pianos, drums and bass padding out Gray's usually sparse arrangements. And to my mind the song suffers through these additions. It's a lot more 'user friendly' and accessible than the other tracks, which seems to reduce slightly from the essence of his music. Almost like Gray taking a shot at 'pop' - and not quite making it, and ultimately sounding a bit average. Gray would later go on to turn his attention to the pop world, with the 1998 cross-over classic 'White Ladder', taking it head on and turning it upside down.. but that's for another day, and another review..
Next we're firmly back on Gray's acoustic home turf with 'The Rice' (B-side) - a gleefully impassioned domestic melodrama set in a kitchen.. displaying Gray's deft ability to blend the everyday and ordinary with the grand themes of love and reconciliation.
'Wisdom' shows Gray doing the 'big' sound the way it should be done (just to prove that he can). Loud and bold the full band hammer out this fast paced number with enough zeal and zest to shake even the most lethargic listener out of their stupor.
But just as you're 'all shook up' we find ourselves brought back down to earth with a thump as we hit the throbbing acoustic drums of 'Lovers' (B-side). The baseline loops and hums as Gray sings a chant-like hymn to his lover - his untamed voice buzzing over the persistent strum of the guitar making the song more like a mantra than anything else.
'4:AM' (B-side) picks up where 'Wisdom' left off and takes it on - adding organ and additional vocals to this short upbeat number.
Finally we reach the aptly titled 'Coming Down' (B-side) and our journey’s nearly done. And perhaps appropriately the final track encompasses a little bit of everything which has gone before, the consistent, faithful strum of the guitar, the warbling melody of an organ, the unmistakable sound of an electric guitar and of course the raw, unadulterated, heart-rendering love-laced lyrics.
Finally there are two additional bonus video tracks for Shine and Wisdom (compatible with most PC's) which give us yet another glimpse at the man behind the music.
An excellent way to round off this sterling collection of potent, inspiring songs from an artist once described by Joan Baez as ”the greatest lyricist since Dylan”.
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