David Gray – “Fugitive” Single

Everyone speaks of David Gray’s White Ladder from 1998 as if it’s the holy grail of folk pop. After it appeared 2002’s gorgeous full-length dirge, A New Day at Midnight, in tribute to Gray’s departed father. Then came 2005’s drastically underappreciated Life In Slow Motion, a pretty pile of wintry, morose melodies that crept inside your ears, then into your viscera, and stayed there. The album took up residence in rock’s pantheon of all-time perfectly themed albums, mass appeal be damned.

Gray is back now with the “Fugitive” single ahead of the late-September drop of his new seventh release, Draw the Line. About this “Fugitive,” well, he’s melodic as ever. The song’s damn catchy, and his trademark raspy howl remains in fine form. So it’s typical David Gray in that respect, right? Right. It’s just that nothing’s particularly memorable about the song.

Perhaps this has to do with his split from longtime collab crony Craig McLune a couple years back. As Gray told Billboard magazine, “The creative spark was sort of diminishing between the people who were involved.” This makes too much sense now. He has a new band (so far bland), and the best thing going for this song lyrically is Gray’s vintage rhyming of “sieve” with “sedative.” That’s so David.

Perhaps DG simply intended to trot out a fun, whimsical little ditty – if so, sweet success! – but he’s not really been that type before. (“Be Mine” and “The One I Love” sound relatively cerebral next to this track.) “Gotta try,” he keeps singing. The piano chords and backing vocals attempt to soar, but Gray seems to be on autopilot here. The song doesn’t get off the runway. In talking about his new sound, he’s described its “muscularity.” At the same time he’s forsaken the lyrical meat, at least on this lead-off single. That was long his strong suit. Wonder what we’ll get on the LP.

Tagged as: England, Manchester, Pop

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