There’s no substitute for genius. David Gray is back with an incredible song and video. Dig it!
David Gray personally sought out Baltimore-based zoetrope artist Eric Dyer to create the kaleidoscopic clip featured in the video. The visual 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, and 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.”
Gray’s new album, Gold In A Brass Age is set for release on March 8 via IHT Records / AWAL Recordings. “The Sapling” is the album’s hypnotic lead single featuring layered vocals and a brass section including an English horn and baritone sax. In addition to the new album, David Gray is embarking on a world tour.
Gold In A Brass Age was produced by Ben DeVries, son of producer and soundtrack composer Marius de Vries. The album is 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 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 tattoo artist, Londonboy Tattooer, depicts an Emperor moth with the City of London captured between its wingspan.
Gold In A Brass Agewill 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 the breakout multi-platinum White Ladder. It is also a vital new collection of songs from an artist still reveling in his passion for songcraft, pushing himself into unfamiliar terrain, surprising himself as much as his fans along the way.
