David Gray Releases Covers Album

David Gray just released his new greatest hits album, which has two new tracks on it including his current single, "The World to Me," available only on iTunes.

But big fans who already have all his albums will be happy to know that he also just released a live album full of covers on his website. I've been listening to it a lot, and it's very good. All the tracks are pretty low-key, most of them just David and his guitar, some backed by Clune and his band. It seems that this is a collection of the covers that Gray plays for a little change-of-pace at his live shows. The sound of the crowds suggests smaller arenas (which is really all he plays anyway--relative to most musicians of his popularity), and contributes to the intimate feel of these songs.

I've always thought of David Gray as my generation's Bob Dylan, because I consider him the best lyricist since Dylan (if you don't believe me, listen to/read his earlier albums especially). It's fitting, then, that this album's title is named after Bob Dylan's song "One Too Many Mornings." It's also very interesting to see what Gray's influences are, at least to the extent that he covers these artists (three by Dylan and two by Springsteen, among various others).

Download the album here on his website's store.