LOS ANGELES, CA (WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2024) – Independent Project Records and David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) announced today the release of the triple album Tracks From the Attic on digital, CD, colored vinyl LP and Super Deluxe Box Set Art Edition formats on May 3. The first single and video, “Oh No! Not Another Songwriter!”, are out today.

Hand-picked by David himself, the three-LP Tracks From the Attic was originally part of Record Store Day’s RSD Black Friday 2023 and features solo demos recorded on audio-cassette between 1984 and 2004. With Tracks From the Attic, the Bauhaus and Love and Rockets co-founder invites listeners on a most fascinating journey. 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 sometimes on the road and mostly at home, with only the help of his Muse, a recorder and a lit candle. 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. Tracks From the Attic offers a unique experience that gives equal importance to the aural, the visual and the tactile.

The Super Deluxe Box Set Art Edition of 70 copies is numbered, autographed and extremely limited, comes in translucent natural vinyl and features a new color scheme cover, plus a limited edition David J artwork. What makes each of the Super Deluxe Art Box Set Edition so unique is the inclusion of actual cassettes from David’s personal home archive, the very ones that were used to compile this career-spanning archival release. This version of Tracks From the Attic is only available from the IPR store. More details here.

“These recordings were never meant for commercial release,“ said David J. “They were merely a form of notation, quick audio sketches rendered to capture arresting ideas as they came to me. Butterflies caught in a jar, if you will…and now they are set free to fly!”

From (literally) three shoeboxes in the attic to the stereo in your front room, these seminal demos on cassette have languished unheard (aside from the ears of their creator and those of the exclusive members of the Patreon site of the same) for decades but now. They are finally unleashed and released on vinyl and CD as Tracks From the Attic. Please . . . lend an ear!

A West Coast Tour in support of Tracks From the Attic will begin on release date, Friday May 3, with a one-of-kind event at the Bodecker Foundation in Portland, OR titled Enter the Attic: an Evening with David J. In celebration of the triple album’s commercial release, this will be a tiered ticketed event featuring an interview and Q&A with David and moderator Jeffrey Clark (Shiva Burlesque/IPR), a two-part live performance (solo acoustic and full band), a screening of music videos and an art gallery showing. Ticketed live streaming will be available for 48 hours to allow fans from all over the world to take part in such a special event. A digital download of the live show will be provided to all in-person and virtual guests after the event. Tickets available here. Full tour dates & further details will be announced soon.

Track Listing:

1. Punishment by Roses
2. The Dream Collector
3. Blackmail
4. The Murders in the Rue Morgue
5. My Soul Was Still Shouting, ‘MORE!’
6. I Wish Those Spacemen Would Come
7. Badge of Lead (A Western)
8. Small Death Of a Broken Doll
9. She Calls the Morning Cruel
10. Lady Bureaux
11. Is There Anybody There?
12. The Wolf Knows
13. Castles of Limburg
14. If Muzak Be the Junk Food of Love
15. Homo Sapien Blues
16. This Town
17. Vincent In the Flames
18. They’ve Murdered Christ Again
19. Lucky Dog
20. Old Man in the Rain
21. Conspiracy of Shadows
22. The Long Ride Home
23. Cruel Britannia
24. All the Pilgrims
25. It’s Got to Bethe Angels
26. I’ll Put Off Thinking About You for Awhile
27. Or Do I Speak Too Soon?
28. Oh No! Not Another Songwriter!
29. Diamonds, Black Eyes and Valentines Blues
30. The Most Beautiful Girls in the World
31. Before the Positive Was Negative
32. At Paradise
33. New Year’s Day
34. Leaning Towards the Falls
35. Dying Embers (Bonus Track – Digital Only)
36. The Rattler (Bonus Track – Digital Only)
37. The Wrecking Ball is Coming Down (Bonus Track – Digital Only)

ABOUT

Founded in 1980 by musician and artist Bruce Licher, Independent Project Records and its sister entity Independent Project Press are known for their instantly recognizable hand-printed record covers for bands including Camper Van Beethoven, For Against, Polvo, R.E.M., Savage Republic, Silversun Pickups, Stereolab and more. Aside from creating all artwork on his vintage two-ton hand-fed letterpress, Licher was nominated for a Grammy Award for his design work on the IPR released debut album from For Against. In 2020, the label was relaunched by both Licher and Jeffrey Clark with new and archival releases and is distributed by MRI/The Orchard & via Proper Music Group, outside the USA & Canada. It is based in Bishop, California, at the base of the Eastern Sierra Mountains.