A familiar phenomenon

David Gray

“Life in Slow Motion” (ATO/RCA)

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THOSE who think Coldplay has lost the message in its march toward world domination would do well to check out Gray’s new album. The hypnotic, soul-searching “Nos De Caraid” is exactly the song that could have given Coldplay’s recent “X&Y;” a much-needed emotional center and prevented it from collapsing under its own weight.

Of course, Gray’s got a trunkload of songs like this going back more than a decade.

However, the English singer-songwriter’s own emotional center seems a little wobbly and weighted itself here, perhaps still seeking balance after the death of his father (a topic driving his last album, 2004’s “A New Day at Midnight”) and the heady, sudden international success of his 1999 song “Babylon” after years of obscurity. He’s not questioning the career trajectory so much as assessing his place in life and art, with no clear answers or simple conclusions.

All this is encased in the subdued-yet-restless, attractive-but-dark sound Gray builds around his squinty tenor -- much as he has for several albums now.

Affecting as it can be, it’s maybe a bit too familiar. Musically speaking, he might have benefited from taking his own advice from the wrenching song “Hospital Food”: “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.