A California singer-songwriter whose cover became a film soundtrack staple, then kept writing.
If you only know "Mad World," try "Broken Windows" or "Stormtrooper In Drag" to hear what he does on his own terms. They're quieter, but they've got the same kind of space in them.
Most people know Gary Jules from his version of "Mad World" in Donnie Darko, which turned a Tears for Fears synth-pop track into a sparse piano ballad that fit the film's mood perfectly. That song became his signature, but he's kept putting out albums like Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets with songs like "Broken Windows" that show his own writing voice. He's worked with people like Michael Stipe and Rufus Wainwright, but mostly just keeps recording without much fuss.
He first got wider attention when his cover of "Mad World" appeared in the 2001 film Donnie Darko. Since then he's released albums like Stood Up By the Ocean and kept writing songs like "Been a Long Time" and "Falling Awake," which later showed up on Grey's Anatomy.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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