Review by Dan:

David Gray's seventh album is ballad heavy, and bears few similarities to his flagship, “White Ladder”, which was one of the biggest selling albums of the last decade. Retaining the sometimes considerable gusto in his vocals, reminiscent of an early Bob Dylan, Gray presents us with the dark, desperate “Nos Da Caraid”, which is ‘goodnight sweetheart’ in Welsh, and “Now And Always”, with it’s idyllic lyrics and subtle bass guitar beat. However, these aside, a lot of the tracks, despite Gray's undoubted poetic ability, are uninspiring and border on the depressing. Of the two more upbeat songs, “The One I Love” is the most cheery song about a slow death on a field of battle that I could imagine, and, along with the radio friendly “Hospital Food”, backs up my opinion that Gray is better at the quicker, buoyant numbers. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy "Life In Slow Motion" as much as I’d anticipated – maybe it gets better the more you listen, but I’m still waiting….