David Gray Gold in a Brass Age (ground Control Acoustic Sessions) (2019)

2019 release. Gold In A Brass Age was produced by Ben DeVries, son of producer and soundtrack composer Marius. The album finds Gray in renewed creative form and arrives just ahead of a run of headline shows in the US and UK. Gold In A Brass Age is defined by an intuitive approach from Gray, exploring new electronic textures and sound palettes, along with new production techniques in the process. David began writing Gold In A Brass Age in 2016 and it was recorded over several months between tours, including a 50 date US tour and a co-headline tour with Alison Krauss in 2017. Using a cut and paste approach to the arrangement of songs, the album's atmospheric and experimental undertones are evident throughout.

The second LP to be produced by Ben de Vries, the thirteen-track album departs from the shimmering electronics of 2019’s Gold In A Brass Age and embarks on a sparser, communal soundscape. The atmospheric songs centring themselves around six-part vocals with Gray trading his signature gravel for a softer tone. Recorded prior to the pandemic, the album sessions took place at Edwyn Collins’ Helmsdale studio on the Sutherland coast, with De Vries and Gray finessing the mix throughout lockdown. The album’s artwork is created by former art school graduate Gray himself. Skellig takes its name from a formation of precipitous rocky islands off the coast of Co. Kerry, the most westerly point in Ireland.