David Gray – Skellig 2xLP Vinyl Record

David Gray – Skellig 2xLP Vinyl Record

David Gray released his twelfth studio album, “Skellig”, in May of 2021. The second LP to be produced by Ben de Vries, the thirteen-track album departs from the shimmering electronics of 2019’s “Gold In A Brass Age” and embarks on a sparser, communal soundscape with the atmospheric songs centring themselves around six-part vocals with Gray trading his signature gravel for a softer tone. Recorded prior to the pandemic, the album sessions took place at Edwyn Collins’ Helmsdale studio on the Sutherland coast, with De Vries and Gray finessing the mix throughout lockdown. The album’s artwork is created by former art school graduate Gray himself.

“Skellig” takes its name from a formation of precipitous rocky islands off the coast of Co. Kerry, the most westerly point in Ireland. Ravaged by the Atlantic, the seemingly un-inhabitable location of Skellig Michael became an unlikely site of pilgrimage in 600AD for a group of monks, who believed that leading such a merciful existence, they would leave the distraction of the human realm to be ultimately closer to God. Gray asks for no literal translation of the above, nor prescribes any religious allegiance – but the story, told to him by a friend, has haunted his imagination ever since.

Pressed on Classic Black Vinyl.

TRACKLISTING

Side A:

1. Skellig
2. Dún Laoghaire
3. Accumulates

Side B:

1. Heart And Soul
2. Laughing Gas
3. No False Gods
4. Deep Water Swim