When David died, the challenging task of doing the final recording and mixing the record fell to David’s co-producer, Patrick Phillips. The brooding, piano-driven waltz Forgive (But Not Forget) looks back at one (‘ Our fate perhaps, or were we just ill-matched’), with a grand, expressive guitar solo and overwrought rhythmic variations adding to the drama. Door One was recorded with a core of four musicians: drummer Jeremy Stacey (King Crimson, Noel Gallagher, Sheryl Crow, The Finn Brothers), bassist Steve Vantsis (best known for his work with Fish), saxophonist Theo Travis (Steven Wilson, Soft Machine, Gong) and David’s longstanding friend and former 1990s Gifthorse band mate Gary Bromham (Bjork, Sheryl Crow, George Michael) who contributed guitar, backing vocals, keyboard parts and textures. Especially because – as Longdon looks back on doors opened, paths chosen, and where those choices have led – this personal, emotional and frequently sublime record simply vibrates with life, and living. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

Stacey is one of four main musicians featured, along with bassist Steve Vantsis, saxophonist Theo Travis and Longdon’s former band mate from Gift Horse, Gary Bronham who contributed many instruments to the album. It opens with Into The Icehouse, an instrumental, ambient piece of birdsong and minimal piano tones playing almost a lament.Rock doesn’t need saving in 2024, but it’s nice to be reminded just how thrilling and relatable three chords and the truth can still be.

In doing so David achieved two things: getting the album across the line but sadly posthumously, aided by friends and colleagues keen to ensure the world heard what David wanted to say. I subsequently had to take on a wider role with David’s passing, but Patrick Phillips and I were definitely on the same wavelength when it came to manifesting some of this at the mixing stage, with these goals in mind. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.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 . The album is not actually very long in duration but it has flashes of brilliance and will need several plays to really understand, which is fitting really. This is a very personal song and its lyrics reveal much about who David was, so it’s good that he found peace with Sarah, even though that was ended abruptly.

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.Forgive (But Not Forget)” is another great one; it is something of a ballad with lots of space for David to emote and hurt. When David Longdon died suddenly and unexpectedly from a fall last year, the world of music was deeply saddened.

The album closer, “Love Is All” feels like an emerging from the pain of Letting Go, and finding your place of calm.

Thankfully, Big Big Train have chosen to continue, albeit in a different configuration and one that pays tribute to their deeply missed colleague. Door One, David Longdon’s posthumous solo album, is out now on CD and white and black vinyl editions.