By Brian A. Gnatt
April 5, 1996
Daily Music Editor
While bands like Radiohead and Oasis are busy playing their part in another
British invasion out of our radios and televisions, Manchester-born
David Gray's descent on the United States has quite a different strategy.
Gray's raw and honest songwriting and singing puts him in a class all by
himself, without all the glitter and controversy that surrounds most of
his
Brit-pop counterparts.
"I think Radiohead are good, and I think Oasis have got some good songs,"
Gray said in a telephone interview with The Michigan Daily. "I don't
like all that sub-Nirvana stuff that's still going on. I find it utterly
depressing that these bands actually do better than Nirvana did without
the core
thing that was good in the first place. There's no sort of vulnerability
to their struttings and un-melodic shite that they churn out. People like
Bush
should just be put down. They deserve BSE (the British `mad cow disease')."
On his powerful third release, "Sell, Sell, Sell" (to be released on April
30 on EMI Records), Gray throws sincere personal stories together with
classy melodies to produce a warm and powerful piece of work.
"I like its coherence," Gray said. "I like the way the band plays on it.
There's only the three of us, we did it all ourselves. I like it slow.
I think it
sows well between the bandy stuff and the quieter stuff. I think it remains
interesting."
From Gray's social commentary on his debut, "A Century Ends," to the soulful
display of talent on his follow-up "Flesh," "Sell, Sell, Sell" is by far
the best of the singer/songwriter's work. Gray's heartfelt vocals make
the 27-year-old's stories come alive and tear at your heartstrings.
"The songs are better, the delivery of the songs are better, and the band's
better," he said. "All in all, it's better. Plus you get two extra songs,
it's
a value for the money. You get a dozen on this record, and there were only
10 on the other two.
"An album is sort of like a logistical exercise, so many things can go
wrong, as you discover when you start making them," he continued. "The
first one, I was hyper about doing it. We only had a certain amount of
money and we did it all in a week, or just about, and then mixed it straight
away. It was very easy as far as that goes. The producer took care of most
things and I just went and did my stuff. It's got kind of an emotional
momentum because of that. The second one, everything was going wrong at
the record company. It was such a mess. It's got some good writing
and good moments, but on the whole it doesn't have that wonderful thing.
It was a real disappointment to me. I did learn an awful lot from my
mistakes from that one. The third is probably the best, and the next one's
going to be fantastic."
Already busy writing for his next album before the current one is even
released, Gray's ambitious attitude carries over from his music to his
everyday life. Frequently thought of as an angry man because of his songwriting,
Gray admits sometimes he can have an attitude.
"Yeah, fucking watch it or I'll kick your head in," he said jokingly. "It's
so easy to do all that all that angry young man protesting and bullocks
to
people. It's a bit of a one-dimensional tab, for what isn't a one-dimensional
thing. I try and exercise all my ghosts. I don't just fucking go `I'm not
happy with society, I'm going to tell people.' It's slightly more complex
than that. As far as the angry-young-man label being for the way I deliver
everything, I think it's not a very accurate one. I'm no sissy."
David Gray will be opening for Radiohead tonight at the Sanctum in Pontiac.
©1996 The Michigan Daily