Most people know David Gray best for pop-folk romantic radio hits such as “Babylon” and “This Year’s Love” that found their way onto romantic comedy and television drama soundtracks in the early 2000s. Faithful listeners can attest that there is more to this prolific English singer-songwriter than lonesome love ballads. Throughout his 21-year career, Gray’s lyrics have occasionally pondered questions of belief and doubt (even though he does not identify himself as a religious follower).
Gray’s latest album,Mutineers, will appeal to those especially interested in subtle spiritual exploration. “If it's love lifts us up from the dark, is it God by another name?" he asks in one track. Another song—inspired by the work of a Belgian poet—includes the lyrics “I'm climbing hand over hand / Toward that pinprick of light / Toward the seed that God sowed.”
Stylistically, the album is not a huge departure from his past few efforts. But Gray’s love of electronica is a little more pronounced here, which adds an appropriately joyful energy to a collection featuring themes of rebirth and renewal. (Good Soldier Songs)