Just in time for the long Fourth of July weekend, legendary composer/director John Carpenter has returned with his first non-soundtrack music since 2016’s Lost Themes II!
Collaborating again with son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, his bandmates and co-composers for the David Gordon Green-directed Halloween films, Carpenter has unleashed the propulsive new single "Skeleton" and its B-side, the haunting "Unclean Spirit."
Both tracks are available to listen to/download digitally below now, with a deluxe limited-edition 12-inch with art by Chris Bilheimer set to be released on August 28th via Sacred Bones Records.
Vinyl variants include:
Hand-cut “bone records” acetate version limited to 100
“Blood Red” limited to 2000
“Skeleton Bones” (SB mailorder exclusive) limited to 500
“Hemoglobin” (Bandcamp exclusive) limited to 500
“Blood Splatter” (End of an Ear exclusive) limited to 300
“X-Ray” (Sacred Bones Record Society exclusive) limited to 150
The sessions for these songs saw the trio shifting their focus from scoring for the screen and engaging a totally different creative muscle. Instead of being guided by what was happening in the world of Halloween, they were free to work toward other ends.
"It was refreshing to be able to write music that didn’t have to fit to any sort of locked image," Carpenter said in a press release. "We also had a specific focus and direction we wanted to follow when working on Halloween, both in terms of mindset and instruments, and being able to return to working without that narrow focus was refreshing. Although working on Halloween didn’t specifically influence any of these new compositions, there is always a honing of craft that must take place when working on a film like Halloween, and our improved skills definitely helped us in writing these songs."
"Skeleton" and "Unclean Spirit" are also expected to be featured on the upcoming Lost Themes III. Meanwhile, Carpenter and his bandmates are currently working on new music for Blumhouse’s Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends.
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