This second album from David Gray suffered more mistreatment (as did his debut A Century Ends) from his record label, resulting (among other things) in no singles being released. Though he did tour America as the opening act for Radiohead, without a song on the radio it's not surprising that so few people in the States had ever heard of him before last year. If you are already familiar with this album, then you were probably lucky enough to be exposed to him in concert or (like me!) to have a great local independent radio station that didn't play the same 30 songs over and over, hour after hour. I was treated to three cuts from Flesh, and on top of two previous songs I had heard off his first album, I was convinced David was no one-hit wonder.

"What Are You?"

The album kicks off with an angry beat. With lyrics like "Once you sang your own song/Now you're dancing to the same drum" and "You sacrificed the poem of your imagination/For these pounds and pence" David could well be accusing himself, or at least contemplating the abyss he feels tugging at him. When he sings "I seen this monotonous world/Make dull what used to shine" it's clear he feels he and his art have been tarnished. He's venting.

"The Light"

When he's finished, his voice sounds the same, but the guitar has turned gentle, the lyrics softer, the sounds rounder and longer. There is a joy to this song that is not quite overwhelming, still tainted by something not quite pure. The song begins to die out quietly like the embers of a fire, and then flares back up again, tumbling along, repeating the word "rolling," producing warm recollections of Van Morrison songs that develop the same way.

"Coming Down"

A lyrically strong song. An urgent love song. His voice still sounds angry, or desperate, or begging to be heard. "Cos when I hold you naked/When I see you laugh/I got a sword to stem the rivers/and cut the moon in half" is a brutal and passionate assessment of the force of his love.

"Falling Free"

David takes a breath. It's as if he has spent the first three songs purging himself of everything. Now, with just his piano, he sings calmly and confidently and almost with a sense of relief for a love that has overthrown all his senses. This is a flat out, dead-on, honest-to-God brilliant love song that will be virtually unintelligible to people who think chart-toppers from Boyz II Men (all over the radio during 1994) are deep and soulful.

"Made Up My Mind"

What a revelation David has experienced. He seizes his guitar and launches into a song of rebirth that follows in the footsteps of "Wisdom" (from his first album). He is determined not to be adversely influenced by things surrounding him, and declares "I'm taking back what they stole/The diamonds in my mind/Can't afford to be confined/To someone else's pigeon hole."

"Mystery Of Love"

The first of the diamonds. This is a gentle song in which he is learning a valuable lesson, one he has pointed out in interviews, that the more he opens up himself and his music, the better the things he finds. This song has one of his finest musical bridges, and is again packed with perfect poignant lyrics, such as "A tangle of tongues/Flesh flowers and thistles/of conscience, Spittle and skin."

"Lullaby"

Another diamond. It might even qualify as a waltz. A quiet song built with all his most powerful tools. It is a joyous moment at the end when he sings "Hear the bells!" and his guitar masterfully chimes as if from high up in a tower.

"New Horizons"

This is a calm reassessment of the chaos of emotions he suffered through at the beginning of the album, a reiteration of his decision in "Made Up My Mind," all lit by the security of love. His entire world has realigned so that "Same thing that's scrawled across the stars/Is written under our skin." All the anger he was feeling is long gone and forgotten. This is David shining like diamonds.

"Love's Old Song"

The Mersey-ditty sound has David attempting to conjure something that just doesn't come through. He is like Scrooge awaking on Christmas morning: he wants to be angry, but he just can't do it any more. He's singing with his tongue sticking out at everyone who doesn't understand.

"Flesh"

The biggest and brightest diamond is revealed at last. Again the feature is on David's lyrics and his guitar with minimal accompaniment. By now you might have noticed I have quoted lyrics several times. This is something that I rarely find useful, because for me it simply isn't fair to judge a song without hearing the music. (I am a huge fan of Shakira, who sings in Spanish, a language that I do not understand at all, but the music is wonderfully infectious.) In the case of David Gray, though, the words are often poetry and deserve special recognition. As with the final verse:

"And they can plunder

The cave of sorrows

They can strip the gallery bare

Try to build a fence

Around the visions

In our heads, choke every spark

In a cloak of despair

But we got something

They can't stifle

With their price tags

And picture frames

Got a flower for every rifle

Putting flesh on the

Bones of my dreams."

I'm interpreting the album as a chronological account of David's emotional changes. As I don't know in what order the songs were written, this is speculation based purely on the sound and feeling. Several things outside the music itself do lend credibility to this listening. First, David did experience a realisation that he was the master of his own happiness. Second, he began working with a larger-than-life drummer and bassist called Rob McLune, who would soon become David's chief collaborator. And finally, he fell in love with a woman and married.

As a reviewer I would be remiss to not point out the weakest link on this album--but there isn't one. Just as there were no singles, there is not one song that is second-rate filler material, and this at a time (1994 and now) when bands pump an album full of the musical equivalent of shipping popcorn to protect from damage the one fragile single inside. This music may be lost on moguls and fans of Fu-Schnickens, but as for the Grayites, we understand.

Flesh
Released:1994
Virgin Records - CDHUT17
Produced By: Dave Anderson
Re-Released July 06 2001, HUT Records


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Getting ready to go out