Door One

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Although it only runs for 30 seconds, it’s an excellent piece which shows another side to David’s compositional ability. It’s a high bar, but that album is the closest relative of Door One, his second solo release after 2004’s Wild River. There's a suppleness to the instrumentation on Door One that is often missing in BBT’s meticulously crafted music. The sadness of knowing that David’s voice is now silent is eased by the wealth of incredible music he has left us – and this album stands as one of his very best.

With that husky, timeless tone of his, David Longdon appeals to us to heed the words: ‘ Love is the only thing that matters, Love is all, love is all. He had much greater range than even I had expected, and yet he always performed with class and muster. BBT released a stunning record in Welcome to the Planet earlier this year, and he and the band seemed poised for a new era altogether.This album took a little while to grow on me but by the time I saw it live I was in love with its humongous, over-egged pomposity!

One thing I must note, and it pains me to say this, is that David not only seems to change genre, he also changes his vocal style somewhat. Following on from the themes of relationships ending, this song is about “what to hang on to, and what to let go”.Given the circumstances, this wasn’t created as a “last will and testament” and I’m not going to look at it through that lens. I don’t ever think that there can be an absolute truth in music, it’s the people that are involved in the process at that moment, making choices. David released his first solo album, Wild River, back in 2004 but on joining Big Big Train, the band became his primary focus. It won’t change the face of music or knock the world off its axis, but Hell, Fire And Damnation is yet another damned fine addition. The atmospheres and use of ambience were a huge source of inspiration and a big factor in the making of Door One.

The decks are cleared after that emotional trip with the orchestral intro to “Sangfroid” (which means “composure under trying circumstances”). I think that is reflected in Door One, as well, since it is something of a departure from David’s normal style.

Along with the John Barry orchestral trappings, this irresistible slice of art-pop has an earworm three-chord central hook, and another eye-watering vocal climax. This is a difficult album if you knew the man but it’s wonderful to hear what he had been working on in these days before he left us. David was a massively creative force of nature when it came to music, and I hope that he would have been happy with the choices that we made . It’s a great exposition of how the finest performances are a communion between performer and listener, with the singer as the focal point – and if you’ve been to a Big Big Train gig you’ll know exactly what David is talking about. There are moments where he doesn’t sound completely himself, and others where he clearly stretches himself beyond his capabilities.

However, by the Spring of last year, he was seeking to forge a solo career in parallel with continuing to be a leading force within Big Big Train. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.Birdsong, echoing piano and a building cinematic atmosphere characterise instrumental prelude Into The Icehouse, an Eno-esque mood-setter that, in a kinder world, might have served well as intro music to a live show. The mandolin and melody line give a folky lilt, the guitar solo and Wurlitzer organ are bluesy, and Theo Travis’ smokey sax outro is pure class (as a steer Longdon’s pointed Travis to Dick Parry’s work on one of his favourite albums, The Dark Side Of The Moon). The CF was then finished and mastered by some exceptional musicians and studio technicians as a tribute to this irreplaceable musical force. David had also finally, after many years, begun to gain both widespread acclaim and respect, furthermore he had found satisfaction in his life with partner Sarah Ewing. And perhaps here it’s hardest to separate Door One – with all its heart, soul, love, vitriol, humour and wisdom – from its sad, posthumous circumstances.