Of Purgatory And Perfume: A Brief Review Of The New Album From David J (Bauhaus, The Jazz Butcher, Love & Rockets)

The new album from David J, Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure, out now via Glass Modern, is an epic song-cycle from the Bauhaus and Love & Rockets member. The release in some ways echoes David's 1985 album, Crocodile Tears and The Velvet Cosh, reviewed by me here, with this legendary musician favoring a lush, yet understated sound here on this one. It's a style that's pitched somewhere near torch songs in spots, even while the overall sound on this release is very much reminiscent of that of the exemplary third Love & Rockets album, Earth, Sun, Moon (1987).

Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure has some modest range about it, with "Blue Eyes in the Green Room", a song of longing, sitting on the same album as "Lovelorn", a fairly jaunty ramble. There are a few things here, like "Of Purgatory and Paradise", where David does a fairly convincing approximation of Leonard Cohen, enough so that one would be hard pressed to hear this and think it was the same guy behind "Dark Entries" and stuff like that. David J is attempting something here a good deal different than the material he's most known for, even if for some long-time and devoted fans some of this will seem reminiscent of his earliest solo material.

On the elegant "The Auteur", a number produced by Paul Wallfisch with David J, a listener gets the sort of chamber pop that David J never quite got to make in any of his previous bands. The track is superb, and the most affecting thing here according to this reviewer. While that song benefits from guest Rose McGowan, "Migena and the Frozen Roses" succeeds thanks in part to contributions from co-writers and musical guests, Asia Argento and Anton Newcombe (The Brian Jonestown Massacre). The cut is nearly a spoken-word piece, with Asia's breathy vocals adding a sense of mystery here, even as the music washes in and out on waves of cymbals and acoustic guitar riffs. David J seems to be in territory here that's far removed from that of Bauhaus, though one could make the case that this isn't that radically different from "Slice of Life" or "Spirit", really. "(I Don't Want To Destroy) Our Beautiful Thing" worked just as well for me, seeing as it recalled lots of the second side of Earth, Sun, Moon, my favorite Love & Rockets release.

David J has this knack for creating drama out of the simplest of pieces, and lots of Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure works so well thanks to that knack. David J isn't really re-inventing the wheel here, but he is playing to his own strengths as a performer and that's something to be applauded. By not chasing after any contemporary vibe, or style, David J has instead made something fairly old fashioned and timeless with this album. It's stuffed with tunes, and suffused with the sort of warmth and intimacy, particularly on closer "I Hear Only Silence Now", that alternative music once routinely had. Fans of David J will find lots to embrace here.

Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure is out now via Glass Modern.

More details on David J via his official Facebook page, or his official website.

[Photo: David J]