David Gray returns for Dublin gig

David Gray is to play an intimate Irish gig for the first time in three years as part of a new tour.

The singer will play Dublin’s Olympia Theatre along with five UK dates for the low-key Life In Slow Motion Tour in September.

Gray, who has won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award, will release his seventh album, Life in Slow Motion, on September 9, and a new single, The One I Love, in August.

The musician, who wrote the album between October 2003 and May 2005, worked with producer Marius De Vries, who has recorded with Madonna and U2.

“I don’t think you can remain the underdog forever and work in that way. I really wanted to get away from that lo-fi bedroom programming,” said Gray, who originally trained as a painter at the Liverpool College of Art.

“All the records that have inspired me this time have been far more of a soundscape. The Sigur Ros records, Sparklehorse’s It’s A Wonderful Life, Lucinda Williams, World Without Tears and albums like Deserter’s Songs, where things are more architectural.”

Two of the songs on the Life In Slow Motion album – From Here You Can Almost See the Sea and Ain’t No Love – are from Gray’s work on the soundtrack for Amma Asante’s debut film A Way of Life.

The songs also earned Gray a nomination for the 2005 BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award.

The songwriter’s previous album, New Day at Midnight, went platinum, while his classic White Ladder remains the best selling album ever in Ireland, with over six million sales worldwide.

In late 2002, Gray played two shows in Dublin’s Point Theatre and a concert in Belfast’s Odyssey as part of a UK and Irish tour which saw him perform to 250,000 fans across 22 sell-out shows.

Tickets for the concert on September 18, which are priced €43.50, will go on sale next Friday at 9am.