Horror film legend John Carpenter has announced the full details of his upcoming collection of unreleased movie themes. Due out February 3rd via Sacred Bones, the aptly-titled Lost Themes collects nine previously unheard tracks that Carpenter expanded upon and fleshed out with the aid of Ludrium frontman Cody Carpenter and composer Daniel Davies (I, Frankenstein). That’s the absolutely terrifying cover art above.
In a statement, Carpenter discussed the scope of the project:
Lost Themes was all about having fun. It can be both great and bad to score over images, which is what I’m used to. Here there were no pressures. No actors asking me what they’re supposed to do. No crew waiting. No cutting room to go to. No release pending. It’s just fun. And I couldn’t have a better set-up at my house, where I depended on (collaborators) Cody (Carpenter, of the band Ludrium) and Daniel (Davies, who scored I, Frankenstein) to bring me ideas as we began improvising. The plan was to make my music more complete and fuller, because we had unlimited tracks. I wasn’t dealing with just analogue anymore. It’s a brand new world. And there was nothing in any of our heads when we started other than to make it moody.
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To accompany today’s announcement, Carpenter has shared the album opener, “Vortex”. A Frankenstein of classical piano, ominous strings, and chunky synths, this spooky tune could’ve easily served as the backdrop for even the most frightening Carpenter flicks. Listen to the song here, where it’s accompanied by classic clips from Carpenter’s filmography.
In related news, watch The Roots remix Carpenter’s iconic theme song to Halloween.
Lost Themes Tracklist:
01. Vortex
02. Obsidian
03. Fallen
04. Domain
05. Mystery
06. Abyss
07. Wraith
08. Purgatory
09. Night
