Draw the Line | ||||
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Studio album by David Gray | ||||
Released | 14 September 2009 | |||
Recorded | The Church Studios, 2008 | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 46:55 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Mercer Street/iht | |||
Producer | David Gray, Iestyn Polson, Rob Malone | |||
David Gray chronology | ||||
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Singles from Draw the Line | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 62/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
BBC | (favourable) |
The Guardian | |
The Independent | |
Planet Sound | (5/10) |
Slant | |
The Telegraph |
Draw the Line is the eighth studio album by the English singer-songwriter David Gray, released on 14 September 2009 in Europe and 22 September in the United States. The first single "Fugitive" was released on 7 September 2009. The second single was the Annie Lennox duet "Full Steam," released on 28 December 2009.
Gray recorded the album, the first set of new songs since 2005's Life in Slow Motion, in his own studio—The Church Studios—while unsigned to a record label. The studio previously belonged to the Eurythmics, and when Gray invited Annie Lennox to guest-record the duet "Full Steam", she reprimanded him for not changing the carpets. The track, described as "a broad political thing," is one of two duets on the album. The second duet, "Kathleen", features Jolie Holland. Gray revealed in an interview that the original choice for "Kathleen" was Dolly Parton, to whom he wrote a letter with a demo of the song. Parton turned down the offer as she was busy.
Draw the Line is the first studio album with his new band after Gray parted with long-time collaborator Craig McClune in 2007. Gray said that he felt "the creative spark was sort of diminishing between the people who were involved." The album includes 11 new songs, with a new band to back him up: Neill MacColl on guitars, Robbie Malone on bass, and Keith Prior on drums. Gray told The Irish Times that these changes were part of the thinking behind the title: "It's the end of one thing and the start of another. Because there was a chapter and it's ended and now there's a new one. But also it's like, 'don't cross this line!' It's confrontational, which is intentional. That's how I feel."
A deluxe hard-cover book edition of the album, featuring a booklet with 20 pages of illustrations and a bonus CD of tracks recorded live at The Roundhouse, was also released simultaneously.
Draw the Line entered and peaked on the UK Album Chart at number 5 and charted for only 5 weeks, making it Gray's poorest performing release since The EPs 1992–1994 which charted for only 1 week. In Austria, it entered and peaked at number 74, charting for only 1 week.