Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure – David J (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Album titles are a bit like making an entrance to a party. You can either turn up on time in sensible shoes and make small talk in the kitchen, or you can noisily burst in, wearing a fake leopard skin coat, knocking over drinks and making sure everyone notices you. The choice of title for David J’s latest full length release, actually a double album in old money, is definitely the latter. Some might find it a bit over the top, others will find it wonderfully otherworldly, but everyone will stop to look. Great title. Job done. You have our attention.

Once inside, things are not quite what you might have been expecting… or they are exactly what you anticipated, depending on your reaction to what happened above. Missive is a wonderful confessional song-cycle, a real heart on sleeve intimate baring of the soul, intensely personal and full of wonderfully poetic narrative. In short it feels like an autobiography, a real journey through the artists life, from the inside looking out and shrouded in mystery.

Driven largely on acoustic guitar and J’s distinctive vocals, these are songs boiled down to their very essence and then dressed up again in gentle beats, soothing and soaring violins, distant bass pulses, sensuous piano and easy rhythms. Blue Eyes in The Green Room is a wonderfully lilting wander around the back rooms of the music scene both physical and metaphorical, Clandestine Valentine is a moody paean to a lost love and Copper Level 7 is a charming and chiming act of worship.

Ahead of this release you can already find two songs doing the rounds, the claustrophobic, spoken word driven Migena and the Frozen Roses and the Nick Cave-esque The Auteur which features actress activist and writer Rose McGowan. 

It’s a compelling album, a really honest re-telling of life, loss and longing, of love both found and unrequited, of lovers as muses and muses as inspiration, and of songs used to confess all. Souls are bared, heartbreaks are processed, catharsis is the order of the day.  Truly an album a lifetime in the making.

TOUR DATES

Oct 08  Prague, Czech Republic @ La Loca

Oct 12  Berlin, Germany @ BiNuu 

Oct 15  Rome, Italy @ Traffic Club 

Oct 16  Lisbon, Portugal @ Musicbox

Oct 17  Leiria, Portugal @ Teatro José Lúcio da Silva

Oct 18  Porto, Portugal @ Hard Club

Oct 19  Barcelona, Spain @ Salamandra (with The Psychedelic Furs) 

Oct 20  Madrid, Spain @ Teatro Kapital (with The Psychedelic Furs)

Oct 22  Paris, France @ Le Petit Bain

Oct 24  Manchester, UK @ Club Academy (with Pat Fish – The Jazz Butcher) 

Oct 26  London, UK @ Moth Club (with Pat Fish – The Jazz Butcher)

Nov 03 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Paladium (as Bauhaus)

Nov 04 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Paladium (as Bauhaus)

Nov 08  Austin, TX @ Elysium (with Curse Mackey, Rosegarden Funeral Party)

Dec 01 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Paladium (as Bauhaus)