If you only buy one "sensitive white guy" CD this year, make it David Gray's "White Ladder." Already a hit across the pond, the UK's answer to Dave Matthews serves up a plethora of catchy pleasantries that ponder the meaning of the Three Ls: love, loss and life. Such lyrical content may be rote enough, but Davey makes up for it with beautifully orchestrated tracks that combine standard folkie guitar with the best a beat box has to offer. Engagingly mellow and diverse enough to hold one's attention for all eleven songs, the album is book ended by two versions of the breakout single, "Babylon." Other notable tracks include the tragically sweet "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" and "This Year's Love," a piano-heavy meditation on the instability of relationships. The intense lyrical schmaltz never gets the chance to taint an otherwise completely enjoyable jaunt through the ethereal land of Brit Folkies, thanks to Gray's commitment to never enunciate clearly. For all I can tell, the bloke might as well be singing about blood sausage and bangers; what makes David Gray worth checking out is that, either way, he still sounds as sweet.