36 hours but my mind is fresh

Whenever you hear that a musician has had something tragic happen in their life (death of a family member, divorce, botched plastic surgery) you know their next album isn't going to be a barrel of laughs. So, I wasn't hoping for much when I heard that David Gray's new album at the time, A New Day At Midnight, focused on the death of his father. Mix that with the pressure of churning out a follow up to White Ladder and I was poster girl for low expectations.

Mr. Amazon says A New Day At Midnight was released November 5, 2002. I bought it pretty shortly after it came out and stumbled upon a happy coincidence. I, too, was not in the mood for a happy album.

Those of us who were working at a certain newspaper at a certain place can remember that fall and winter of 2002. They were bleak days and the consoling tones of Mr. Gray were just what I needed. He got heavy rotation in my car for several months.

Perhaps the saving grace of the album is that it is not entirely sad. An upbeat song like "Caroline" and the sweet love song "Be Mine" kept me from just driving off a steep hill. David Gray could see the light in bad times and so could I.

Favorite Song of the Week:
"Take It Easy (Love Nothing)" by Bright Eyes - Unless he's changed it, this is Josh's ring tone when I call his cell phone. I really can't say much about it except that it's a great song. I would like to know if that thing in the background that sounds like a bag of change rattling really is a bag of change. If any of you guys are close friends of Conor Oberst, please pass along my question.