Released as a glass-raising toast to the longstanding loyalty of his Irish fan base (whose thirst for fresh David Gray material is truly quenchless), Lost Songs assembles material written during a label-hopping lapse either side of the Sell Sell Sell album and which was belatedly committed to tape in October of 1999.

Far from being a tatty what-I-did-in-my-spare-time scrapbook of discards and B-side quality cast-offs, Lost Songs offers conclusive proof that even David Gray's folk-pop wastepaper basket is lined with silver.

A selection of heart-on-sleeve urban spirituals, many of Lost Songs' choicest moments ("Flame Turns Blue", "As I'm Leaving", "Falling Down the Mountainside") could all be Dylanesque rungs from White Ladder.