It goes without saying that Ireland is Britpop's home away from home. In fact, if you take the bloodline of rock legends as disparate as the Beatles and Oasis into account, you could even call Ireland the motherland of Britpop. For years, the Irish pop charts have borne a striking resemblance to their British counterparts, but it's also not uncommon for an act to reach superstar status in Ireland before it makes a dent on the British pop charts. The success of the Corrs is the most obvious example, and it illustrates the enduring influence of traditional music on Irish taste: even at their most commercial, the Corrs let their folk roots shine through.

Like the Corrs, British pop singer David Gray is a folk musician at heart, so it's no surprise that he too began his journey to international stardom on the Irish pop charts. After spending his youth in Wales and Northern England, Gray moved to London to try his hand at writing and performing music. He released three albums in the mid '90s and went on several grassroots tours of the US and the British Isles. He struggled to make a name for himself everywhere except in Ireland, which latched onto him with the release of his '93 debut, A Century Ends (Caroline), and hasn't let go yet.

"Ireland provided some support for me when I was having a hard time getting the time of day anywhere else," Gray explained over the phone from London a few weeks before the start of his current North American tour. "The first time I went there, it blew me away. They gave me a bigger cheer when I came on than I had ever had walking off. And it got better from there -- these days, it's hard to get the music across at times because people get so excited. In relative terms, I'm biggest of all in Ireland."

With the international release of his fourth album, White Ladder (RCA), a few years back, Gray started playing to screaming fans all over the world. Propelled by the hit "Babylon" -- which put a bright electronic spin on his Van Morrison-influenced guitar and vocals -- the disc was a smash in Britain and Ireland and also went platinum in the US.

Gray's American success was partly the result of a new deal with RCA that was brokered by Dave Matthews -- a man who knows a little something about conquering adult-alternative radio. Gray met Matthews during his first US tour in the early '90s, when both performers were just starting off. Matthews has been a vocal supporter ever since, and when RCA gave him a boutique label of his own (ATO), Gray became the first signing.

"It made perfect sense," Gray observes of his business arrangement with Matthews. "I had a record ready to go, and we were looking for a home for it. It was a way of Dave starting his record company without having to wait. I liked the no-bullshit approach of his people, because it's not like Dave hyped his way to the top. He was a square peg in a round hole in much the same way I am. All they could say was, `You need to go out and work, and we'll support you.' It sounds rather basic, but that was an assurance I'd never really been able to believe in when I'd heard it before."

In November, Gray released A New Day at Midnight (RCA), the long-awaited follow-up to White Ladder and his fifth album overall. Unlike its predecessor, which was recorded at his home studio when he was between record deals, the new disc was made at pro studios with a major-label budget. But Gray and his long-time producers, McClune and Iestyn Poston, don't deviate much from the White Ladder formula of smart, personal folk songs dressed up with classy electronic flourishes.

A New Day at Midnight is a more personal album than its predecessor, and Gray readily admits that its melodies and subject matter are more melancholy. "White Ladder had a lot of big tunes on it that left you with a feeling of being light and uplifting. But this one is more serious, for want of a better word. The themes are a little darker. The objective is to do what's in your heart, and the things that happen to me all come out in the music. If I had my way, it would be a damn sight more downbeat than it ended up.

"Nevertheless, I think it's got quite a few big melodies. It's not an exercise in total misery -- there's a glimmer of daylight all the way through it. So I think it's going to be good for people in a different way."

The first single, "The Other Side," is a ghostly lament with Gray on piano and vocals and little other instrumental accompaniment. "Honey now if I'm honest/I still don't know what love is," goes the refrain, and by the end it sounds almost like an epitaph. But the opening "Dead in the Water" isn't as morbid as its title implies, and "Caroline" is an upbeat country-rocker with jittery electronic beats and an otherworldly pedal-steel solo by veteran London session player B.J. Cole.

Gray built his reputation on the road, and he's counting on his current tour to boost sales of A New Day at Midnight, which debuted at a respectable #17 but isn't exactly tearing up the charts. "I don't really make any attempt to make commercial records. The fact that White Ladder happened wasn't by design, it just sort of grew that way. If I happen to make another one, it's all well and good, but that's not the objective.

"I think what makes a difference with my music is I've got to be there. I haven't been to the States, and also they've had to go with the most difficult single first. But now hopefully we'll get more of a reaction. Because I've really got to be there standing and shouting for anyone to take notice of me."

Issue Date: January 31 - February 6, 2003