David J – Tracks From The Attic (RSDBF 2023)

Attics have always exerted an irresistible allure on David J’s imagination. They can unveil luminous jewels that time and dust made seem 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 solitary over three decades reveal new sides to him. Even while busy with his two legendary groups, David J bursted with songs; this is a thrilling selection of recordings he made between 1983 and 2004, some in the studio and most at home, with only the help of his Muse, a recorder and a lighted candle. Like all good attic finds, these songs were committed to tape and almost forgotten – it wasn’t until a fan suggested he’d offer his digitising skills that David J thought about revisiting them again. All, except from deep cut ‘This Town’, had never been previously heard. The fact that most of these tunes didn’t end up being 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 busy 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 couldn’t be fully expressed in a band setting. It is indeed fascinating to follow the evolution of David J’s way 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 box set’s highlights cheekily cries out. Well, this box set interjects, this is not just any songwriter.