David Gray - White Ladder

Here's something you might have missed - David Gray's fourth and, realistically, his breakthrough album, White Ladder, is 27 years old. There are now nine years of voters younger than this album. For those who want to drive or join the army, you can make that 11 years. And there we were, thinking the British alt-rock-folk crooner's biggest hit record, and the UK's fifth best-selling LP of the 2000s, was still a relatively contemporary doozy.

The shock of ageing aside, White Ladder remains the kind of landmark that was always going to divide opinion. For some, it reflects a very mainstream singer-songwriter style that's nothing but lovely, if not particularly innovative. For so many, though, it's a seminal work that speaks of heartfelt human emotions in a universal way. And if that means being hella catchy, we say only the most contrary can call it out.