White Ladder

This is my absolute all-time favourite CD; David Gray at his best.

White Ladder epitomises (for me) the best that music can be: songs that speak to you when there's a skip in your step (or alternatively, a tear in your eye).

I bought White Ladder in early 2001, having no idea who David Gray was. I had only seen a few TV ads for the album featuring Gray singing his heart out with the chorus of Babylon - and it was enough to get me in.

The album - a mix of ballads of love found and lost and found again - worked its way into my heart very quickly.

It was the time I was falling madly in love with the lady who is now my wife. And the upbeat optimism / sadness of the album spoke to me very deeply as someone whose new love stood in the fragile place that new love does.

The album was on high rotation in my player for years - long after the wedding bells had tolled. I don't listen to it very much now, but whenever I do, it's with fondness.

It's quietly playing in the loungeroom now as I blog, as the kids sleep, and as my darling wife cleans the kitchen (better quit bloggin' and start helpin'!). And it sounds as sweet as ever.

There are some excellent albums out there. But then there are the albums that really speak to you because they got your ear at a certain time in life. White Ladder is one album that will age well for Cara and I because of all it represents.

Even though our kids will grow up and mock us for playing such ancient music, I remain hopeful that they will one day understand what it is to be met by a piece of music in a deep place. And never left quite the same.