A New Day at Midnight

Loss and resilience figure heavily in A New Day at Midnight, David Gray's follow-up to his massively popular breakthrough, White Ladder, in 1999. Gray cloaks his painful subject in the kind of impressive songcraft that has marked his work since 1993's A Century Ends. Still, both Ladder and Midnight add a layer of flash to his dependable formula, as dashes of studio trickery and understated electronics (helped along by songwriting partner Clune) give Gray's wistful lyrics and bittersweet, emotive voice a tough-to-resist freshness. Midnight exploits Gray's singing for maximal effect, as songs like the opener, "Dead in the Water," mask sad words with bright reminders of catharsis and faith. At times, Gray could use a little more faith in simplicity. Some songs--"Freedom," for one--could stand just fine with only Gray's voice and a guitar. More often than not, though, Gray's natural, amiable phrasing and ability to create a mood show off his continued growth while staying firmly in the groove that's made him a star.