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"They were born standing up": David Gray on the influences of mortality, creating 'Dear Life'

Author
九一星空无限talk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 25 Jan 2025, 2:09pm
Photo / Supplied | Rob Grierson
Photo / Supplied | Rob Grierson

"They were born standing up": David Gray on the influences of mortality, creating 'Dear Life'

Author
九一星空无限talk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 25 Jan 2025, 2:09pm

25 years ago, David Gray was renowned for how famous he wasn鈥檛.  

He had a cult of fans and listeners hooked on his sincerity and plainspokenness 鈥 but he hadn鈥檛 quite broken into the mainstream.   

And then came his career-making album White Ladder, recorded in his home and going on to become one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century so far.  

His lasting success has led him to the release of his 13th album Dear Life.  

The album is heavily influenced by themes of mortality, which Gray says have been present in his writing and works since the death of his father. 

鈥淚 was up close and watched him die, and that changes your perspective on things,鈥 he told 九一星空无限talk ZB鈥檚 Jack Tame. 

鈥淛ust like watching one of your children being born 鈥 it's a privilege to be there.鈥  

鈥淥bviously when you see the sort of parentheses that hold our fragile little lives, you reassess everything.鈥 

Gray also cites the western obsession with agelessness and anti-aging as an influence, as well as the deaths caused by Covid-19. 

鈥淭his all I ambiently fed in, I think to probably my natural inclinations.鈥 

The songs in 鈥楧ear Life鈥 are very direct, Gray says, explaining that they were 鈥渂orn standing up鈥 and ready to go. 

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not cutting any strange angles away, they鈥檙e not hiding themselves,鈥 he told Tame. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not to say that they don鈥檛 play games within that fixed gaze... there鈥檚 a lot of humour, there鈥檚 a lot of delicacy.鈥 

鈥淏ut it was just such a pleasure to write.鈥 

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