Gray Leans to the Bright Side

It was fitting that David Gray started his encores at the El Rey Theatre on Tuesday with a somber song that stated “this year’s love will never last,” and then followed immediately with one titled “Silver Lining.”

Evoking such models as Van Morrison, Paul Simon and the Waterboys’ Mike Scott, many of the Wales-reared Englishman’s literate meditations on the nature of love and existence are poised precariously between doubt and hope. But with Gray’s buoyant head-bobbing serving as sort of body English to tip the emotional scales, it almost always came down on the bright side Tuesday.

So it seems to be going with his career as well. Long just a blip on music hipsters’ word-of-mouth screen, Gray got a big boost recently when his “White Ladder” album, released independently in England in late 1998, was chosen by musician Dave Matthews to be the inaugural release of his new ATO Records label.

The enthusiastic audience at the El Rey hung on every well-turned phrase, and Gray and his dynamic three-man band proved worthy. Like Morrison, Simon and Scott (whose trembling tenor Gray’s voice resembles), Gray offers deceptively straightforward folk-pop melodies and homey, pastoral imagery that can connect easily. But surprising twists of lyrics and melodies reward those paying closer attention--just like life’s silver linings.