David Gray has released the video for his new single ‘The Sapling’, the lead track from forthcoming new album Gold In A Brass Age, due for release on March 8, 2019 via IHT Records / AWAL Recordings. Produced by Ben de Vries, son of producer and soundtrack composer Marius de Vries, Gold In A Brass Age – Gray’s first album of new material in four years – arrives just ahead of a run of Australian and UK tour dates.
Watch ‘The Sapling’ here.
Gray personally sought out Baltimore-based zoetrope artist Eric Dyer to create the kaleidoscopic clip which now accompanies ‘The Sapling’. The video nods towards the track’s rumination on the cyclical brevity of life and ecology with projected time lapse footage of germinating acorns, scaled-up to hypnotic effect.
Speaking about the video Gray says; “I came across Eric’s TEDx Talk, & some of the zoetropes he’d created looked incredible. There was a clinching moment when he referenced the origin of the word zoetrope from the Greek words zoe (life) and tropos (turn), hence – wheel of life. It was a perfect fit for ‘The Sapling’, and at that moment I just knew it just had to be. We sent some time lapse footage of an acorn growing over to Eric for him to do his thing and create a new animation with it. Our video director Rex had the idea that we could take the animations out into the woods somewhere and back project them onto a huge screen while I performed the song in front. The end result feels like a subtle harmony between the zoetropes & the song.”
Gold In A Brass Age is itself a defined by an intuitive approach from Gray, exploring electronic textures and sound palettes, along with new production techniques in the process. Using a cut and paste approach to the arrangement of songs, the album’s atmospheric and experimental undertones are evident throughout. The album’s title is drawn from Raymond Carver’s short story Blackbird Pie and informed by the regenerative cut and thrust of Gray’s adopted home of London and a fascination with the natural world. The album’s striking artwork – for which Gray approached Peckham-based Londonboy Tattooer – depicts an Emperor moth with the City of London captured between its wingspan.
The new release will be David Gray’s eleventh album in a career that spans over 25 years, several Brit and Grammy nominations, and three No.1 UK albums, including for the breakout multi-platinum White Ladder. It is also a vital new collection of songs from an artist still revelling in his passion for song-craft, pushing himself into unfamiliar terrain, surprising himself as much as his fans along the way.
Gray returns to Australia next year to play three headline shows, kicking off on April 14 in Perth, before heading to Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on April 16 and winding up in Melbourne at the Palais Theatre on April 20 before a highly anticipated set at Byron Bay Bluesfest.
2019 Australian Tour Dates as follows:
Sun, 14 April Perth, Riverside Theatre
Tues,16 April Sydney, Enmore Theatre
Sat, 20 April Melbourne, Palais Theatre
Mon, 22 April Byron Bay, Bluesfest
2019 UK Tour Dates:
Fri, 15 Mar Cardiff, St David’s Hall
Sat, 16 Mar Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Sun, 17 Mar London, Royal Festival Hall
Tue, 19 Mar Brighton, Dome
Wed, 20 Mar Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
Fri, 22 Mar Manchester, Bridgewater Hall
Sat, 23 Mar Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
Sun, 24 Mar Gateshead, Gateshead
Tues, 26 Mar Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
Wed, 27 Mar Bournemouth, Pavilion Theatre
Fri, 29 Mar Birmingham, Symphony Hall
Sat, 30 Mar York, Barbican
Sun, 31 Mar Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
Tues, 2 Apr Belfast, Waterfront
Thur, 4 April Castlebar, Royal Theatre
Fri, 5 April Dublin, Bord Gais Theatre
Sat, 6 April Dublin, Bord Gais Theatre
For all ticketing information: www.davidgray.com
