Music
Silent Hill 2’s “Theme Of Laura” Covered On An Accordion And It Works!
I remember buying my copy of Silent HIll 2 and driving home at what felt like warp speed, all so I could venture into that foggy, mysterious, dangerous town. As with most people, one of hte first things that enchanted me about the game was the gorgeous, sublime soundtrack, which drifted from ambient beauty to industrial ugliness, oftentimes with mere moments in between. And perhaps the most famous of these tracks was the theme song, “Theme Of Laura”, which was heavily utilized during the game’s marketing campaign.
It’s always interesting to see how people will take that music and find their own way to add to it, to take it somewhere that it hadn’t been before. That’s precisely what Adam Matlock did with his cover of the track using only an accordion and a tambourine. It gives the track a decidedly Parisian feel, as though Silent Hill’s power and influence traveled into Europe.
That, for me, raises an interesting concept: What if the powers that make Silent Hill the terrifying location that it is escape and its influence spreads? What locations do you think would be fascinating to venture into if Silent Hill took it over?
It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.
Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.
Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.
“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.
“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”
You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…
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