Foundling

Foundling is the stunning new effort by internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter
David Gray. Foundling (defi ned as an infant found after its unknown parents have
abandoned it) is an extraordinary song cycle of rare and timeless power. As Gray
puts it with a warm laugh, Foundling sort of arrived at my door without my asking
it to, so it felt very appropriate for this album.
In a sense, Foundling also marks another notable arrival -- the second coming of
David Gray s own second coming. By 2005, Gray had already enjoyed what has
been a rather distinguished career as a singer-songwriter and recording artist,
having sold more than 12 million albums, including his global left-fi eld smash,
1998 s White Ladder, which remains the single best selling album in Irish history.
Gray had by this point already won two Ivor Novello Awards, a Q award, two Brit
nominations and a GRAMMY nomination. But not a man or artist content to ever
rest on his laurels, Gray decided that the time had come to shake things up in a
signifi cant way. So in 2006, David Gray decided to disband his longtime backing
group, and to attempt to reconnect with his music before recording his excellent
2009 album Draw The Line with a new group of players, an album which has gone
on to sell over 143,000 units to date.
Recorded at the same time as Draw The Line, Foundling looks like the most
gorgeous and minimalist musical tapestry that David Gray has ever created. Like
the recent productions of T-Bone Burnett, this is music that seems to exist almost
outside of time, yet feels fantastically modern and stripped of all unnecessary
varnish. Because I ve done so much recording lately, I think you eventually get
braver, says Gray. You think `I can go even further with this I can do even less.
So there s defi nitely a sense here of reducing the songs to their absolute bare
minimum. It s basically the record I ve been wanting to make for a long time and it s
as strong a statement as White Ladder in its own way. The album is like a stepping
off point for what might happen next. It s like I m really putting my money where
my mouth is with this one.