SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DAVID J HASKINS – THE MOTHER TREE

DAVID J HASKINS
THE MOTHER TREE
EROTOTOX DECODINGS

David J Haskins’ new album, The Mother Tree, is a companion to his new book of poetry, Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer. The album, The Mother Tree features David J Haskins reciting five poems over very beautiful, melodic, and meditative music. On the surface it seems like an out of character release for Haskins, but really, it is not. This entire book/album project has been very personal and very important to Haskins. And, Haskins has always used art to share his life.

One will also notice that he is now using his surname, Haskins, out of respect and in tribute to his mother, whom he writes about in poetry. Haskins’ brother and fellow Bauhaus and Love And Rockets member has always used his surname, and it is important to David J to be known by his family name.

The music Haskins has created on this album is quiet, melodic, and sublime. Like the poems contained in the book, many of the songs and melodies collected here are older and Haskins has assembled them into a very coherent and consistent album. Haskins’ voice over the music is perfect and the overall effect is quite wonderful and full of emotion.

The songs are not just bare piano accompaniments, the songs are layered and full of sounds and mood. The songs are expertly produced and executed and he has the ability to match the music with the text. Some of the pieces are very long (“The Mother Tree” is over 21 minutes), and yet Haskins keeps the listener engaged and hanging on to his every word. His pacing is perfect, which is not always an easy thing to do while reciting poetry.

The album consists of five pieces from the book and each poem gets its own track. Haskins is presenting his poetry in a very well-constructed and artful setting. The Mother Tree and the accompanying book, Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer is a very ambitious project and one that he has executed beautifully. Both the book and the album are very important to Haskins, and they have been simmering with him for a number of years. Thankfully, he has completed them and shared the work with the world.

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