David Gray Tickets - Gray Preparing To 'draw The Line'

British singer-songwriter David Gray is emerging from a four-year hiatus with his follow-up to 2005's Life In Slow Motion, Draw The Line, which will arrive on September 22. Gray is still finalizing the final track list for Draw the Line, his first release on Mercer Street Records, the sister label of Downtown Records, although Billboard.com has revealed that the album will feature guest vocals by Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Jolie Holland and Annie Lennox. Fans can expect at least 11 tracks of Draw the Line, while a 12th song tentatively titled "Indeed I Will" is also in the wings.

Gray's album features a new band, with Keith Prior on drums, Robbie Malone on bass and Neill MacColl on guitars and shows some creative changes for the singer perhaps best known for his song "Babylon." Gray told Billboard.com, "I've known for some time I've needed a change; a need for a challenge. My appetite for everything was undiminished. But I needed to find new people and make a fresh start. It's very easy to get jaded and I wanted some new blood and new ideas."

David Gray wrote and recorded Draw the Line while he was label-less, which he told Billboard.com worked to his advantage, saying, "Just like with 'White Ladder,' which was a different set of circumstances, this one I made out of contract. Every little tiny detail, I feel strong about it all. I feel completely bulletproof with this. I think it shines the light on facets of me as a performer, a writer and a singer that I haven't perhaps illuminated as brightly enough for a long time. This has been a phenomenally creative period for me. I've produced a huge amount of material and this is just one lot of it."

While you wait to hear more of Gray's new material, check online for David Gray tickets. Although hailed his breakthrough effort, Gray's White Ladder was actually the Manchester, England native's fourth album. Gray released White Ladder via his own IHT Records in 1998 and two years later Dave Matthews rereleased the album via his label, ATO Records, in 2000. The album spawned popular single "Babylon," which Gray performed at the U.K's premiere festival, Glastonbury, and signaled that his career was on the upward trajectory.

David Gray's 2005 effort Life in Slow Motion went four times platinum thanks to piano ballads like "Ain't No Love" and "Alibi" as well as the slow track "Lately." During his break from the recording studio, Gray released Live from London in 2007 and also released a greatest hits compilation to tide fans over until his next album of new material surfaces. Gray told Billboard.com that he enjoyed working with guest vocalists on the upcoming Draw the Line, gushing that Annie Lennox "absolutely transformed the track" (referring to the album's closer "Full Steam Ahead".)

As for Jolie Holland's vocals on "Kathleen," Gray said, "It's got some charm to it, that one. It's just held its own amongst these bigger numbers. Holland's vocals just lift the song out. She's a star; she's a rare thing." "Fugitive" is slated to be the lead single off Draw the Line and Gray plans on crossing the pond to perform in support of the new album this fall, so get your David Gray tickets to see him live today!