Life in Slow Motion

Life in Slow Motion is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter David Gray, released on 12 September 2005 in Europe and on the following day in the United States. Following a muted response to his previous album, A New Day at Midnight, the album was seen by some as a return to the form that brought Gray international acclaim with White Ladder; it was also the last album recorded with longtime collaborator Craig McClune.

Life in Slow Motion
Studio album by David Gray
Released	12 September 2005 (2005-09-12)
Recorded	June 2004–June 2005
Genre	Folk rock
Length	44:31
Label	Atlantic (UK) ATO/RCA/BMG (US) iht
Producer	Marius de Vries David Gray Iestyn Polson Craig McClune Rob Malone
David Gray chronology
A New Day at Midnight (2002) Life in Slow Motion (2005) Shine: The Best of the Early Years (2007)
Singles from Life in Slow Motion
"The One I Love" Released: 29 August 2005 "Hospital Food" Released: 28 November 2005 "Alibi" Released: 27 March 2006

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Music Box	[3]
PopMatters	6/10[4]
Slant Magazine	[5]

Gray cited Sigur Rós, Sparklehorse, Lucinda Williams, Björk and Mercury Rev as inspirations for the album. The album was Gray's first to use a cello player.^[6] The original choice to produce was Daniel Lanois, but he was booked, so Gray ended up using Marius de Vries, who'd produced Gray's hit single "Sail Away."^[7]

The three singles from the album were "The One I Love", "Hospital Food", and "Alibi". The album was also released on DualDisc format, which included a documentary of the making of the album, a photo gallery, and complete lyrics on the DVD side of the disc.^[8]

The non-DualDisc CD of the album was one of many titles released with the infamous MediaMax CD-3 copyright protection system.

Chart and sales figures

Life in Slow Motion debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, staying for three weeks at the top before dropping to No. 4. In the United Kingdom a week after release in Ireland, it debuted also at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, spending two weeks at No. 1 before dropping to #3; it spent seven weeks in the top 10 and 25 weeks in the top 75. The album debuted and subsequently peaked at No. 16 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Alibi"		4:33
2.	"The One I Love"	Craig McClune	3:25
3.	"Lately"	McClune, Rob Malone, Tim Bradshaw, David Nolte	4:13
4.	"Nos Da Cariad"	McClune, Malone, Bradshaw, Nolte	4:10
5.	"Slow Motion"	McClune	5:00
6.	"From Here You Can Almost See the Sea"		3:39
7.	"Ain't No Love"		3:21
8.	"Hospital Food"	Malone	4:43
9.	"Now and Always"		6:45
10.	"Disappearing World"		5:05
Total length:			44:31

All tracks are written by David Gray, with additional songwriters as noted.

Credits

Musicians

• David Gray – vocals, piano, acoustic and electric guitar, harmonium, Wurlitzer, melodica
• Craig McClune – drums, percussion, dulcimer, glockenspiel, whistles, backing vocals
• Rob Malone – electric and double bass, acoustic and electric guitar, percussion
• Tim Bradshaw – piano, keyboards, electric and lap steel guitar, cello
• David Nolte – electric guitar, cello, melodica, autoharp, samples, backing vocals
• Marius de Vries – percussion, autoharp, recorder, glockenspiel, synthesizer, backing vocals
• Natalie Mendoza – backing vocals
• Caroline Dale – cello
• Strings on tracks 1, 2, and 7: contracted by Isobel Griffiths
• Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader
• Brass on tracks 1 and 5: performed by The Kick Horns
  • Trumpet by Roddy Lorimer and Paul Spong
  • Trombone by Neil Sidwell and Annie Whitehead
  • Bass trombone by Dave Stewart
  • French horn by Nigel Black, Dave Lee, and Michael Thompson
  • Orchestral percussion by Frank Ricotta
• Track 5: baritone saxophone and assistant arrangement by Simon Clarke; French horn by Tim Jones

Production

• Produced by Marius de Vries with David Gray, Iestyn Polson, Craig McClune and Rob Malone
• Recorded and programmed by Iestyn Polson
• Mixed by Andy Bradfield
• Additional mix engineer/additional programming by Jason Boshoff
• Additional programming by Alexis Smith
• Track 1: orchestra arranged by Chris Elliott
• Track 2: orchestra arranged by David Nolte and Marius de Vries
• Track 5: horns arranged by Marius de Vries
• Track 7: strings arranged by Marius de Vries and Tim Bradshaw
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig
• Design and direction by Farrow Design
• Cover image concept by Red Design
• Cover photography by Joanna Thornhill
• Booklet photography by Phil Knott

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Life in Slow Motion Chart (2005) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 8 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 68 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 26 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[13] 15 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 23 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 49 Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI)[17] 30 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 4 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 3 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 14 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 19 UK Albums (OCC)[22] 1 US Billboard 200[23] 16

Year-end charts 2005 Year-end chart performance for Life in Slow Motion Chart (2005) Position New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 43 UK Albums (OCC)[25] 23 2006 Year-end chart performance for Life in Slow Motion Chart (2006) Position UK Albums (OCC)[26] 195

Certifications and sales

Certifications for Life in Slow Motion

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27]	Gold	35,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[28]	4× Platinum	60,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[29]	Platinum	15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[30]	2× Platinum	759,861[31]
United States	—	414,000[32]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.