Reviews: Luke De-Sciscio – Theo / September 27, 2024 / by Bob Fish / original
In an instant, everything changes. It’s hard to believe how the birth of one’s first child transforms lives entirely. The birth of his daughter Theo had that effect on Luke De-Sciscio. Over the next six weeks, while the main goal was simply to survive as this tiny being became his entire world, De-Sciscio took note of everything, and Theo is the result, an album documenting how his world totally changed.
Using just a guitar, his voice, and one piano overdub, he paints a portrait attempting to explain what it means to be alive and responsible for the life of a child. While such an album could fall into over-sentimentality, De-Sciscio’s mastery of the guitar and the elegance of his pen leads the proceedings into a world of wonder, trying to make sense of moments that have irrevocably transformed his life.
From the opening moments of Two Headed Shadow, lives have been altered completely. “And when you were exhumed/ We heard you sing the blues/ I’ve got a good mind to live for you.” The language is so precise, yet simultaneously incredibly whimsical, which is not exactly what you get merely listening to the song. De-Sciscio has a way with language; there’s a sense of precision pervading the playfulness of that moment.
Amidst the simplest chords, made from no more than a couple of notes at a time, Daughter encapsulates how the spell has been cast. “You are my daughter/ I see my family in your eyes/ This is where you were when I fell in love with you/ And my life fell inside.” Caught forever in a spell that never goes away, a spell that transforms everything that will come after.
By the time For the Poems arrives, having experienced curiosity, fear and joy, there is a chance for one final glimpse into the future. Gentle fingerpicking frames hopes and dreams for Theo’s future. “In a world that’s found its way/ And is better than today/ Isn’t scared to be okay/ Is okay/ Like today.” Over the course of 11 songs, Luke De-Sciscio tackles the reality of parenthood in a remarkable collection of songs that distils the hopes and fears for an unknown future, what it means to be a father and what it means to be alive in the 21st century.
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