David J - Tracks From The Attic (2024)

Attics have always exerted an irresistible allure on David J’s imagination. They can unveil luminous jewels that time and dust have rendered all but lost. With Tracks From the Attic, the Bauhaus and Love and Rockets co-founder invites us to join him and climb up the ladder.

A most fascinating journey ensues: we’re looking through boxes of tapes, getting reacquainted with an artist we’ve known for a long time yet, the intimate songs he recorded in solitude over three decades reveal new sides to him. Even while busy with his two legendary groups, David J was bursting with songs; this is a thrilling selection of recordings he made between 1984 and 2004, some on the road and most at home, with only the help of his Muse, a recorder and a lit candle.

Like all good attic finds, these songs were committed to tape and almost forgotten it wasn’t until a fan-cum-friend suggested he’d offer his digitizing skills that David thought about revisiting them again. All, except for deep cut ‘This Town’, had never previously been heard. The fact that most of these tunes did not end up becoming beloved classics (something that, once you hit play, your ears will hardly come to terms with) is but a sign of David J’s ever prolific creative state. Mostly composed on acoustic guitar, they will offer unexpected revelations to long-time fans, as they bring to light facets of his musical self that could not be fully expressed in a band setting.

It is indeed fascinating to follow the evolution of David J’s art with songs through the decades, from the observational lyrical montages of the early days to a later, confident embrace of the deeply personal. At the same time, Tracks From the Attic can also be seen as a striking introduction for newcomers it does feel like meeting one of the great British singer-songwriters for the first time. ‘Oh No! Not Another Songwriter!’, one of the triple album set’s highlights cheekily cries out. Well, this set is evidence that, this is not just any songwriter…