LISTEN: John Carpenter Announces Debut Solo Album; Shares Fantastic Opener, “Vortex”

In addition to writing and directing many iconic films including Dark Star (1974), Halloween (1978), Escape From New York (1981), and The Thing (1982), modern renaissance man…
Film + TV
LISTEN: John Carpenter Announces Debut Solo Album; Shares Fantastic Opener, “Vortex”

In addition to writing and directing many iconic films including Dark Star (1974), Halloween (1978), Escape From New York (1981), and The Thing (1982), modern renaissance man…

Words: Kyle MacKinnel

Photo by Kyle Cassidy

November 03, 2014

John Carpenter / 2014 / credit: Kyle Cassidy

In addition to writing and directing many iconic films including Dark Star (1974), Halloween (1978), Escape From New York (1981), and The Thing (1982), modern renaissance man John Carpenter also composed the soundtracks for many of his films. Now, the auteur invites a younger audience to dream up films along to his music with the announcement of his debut solo record, Lost Themes. Carpenter refers to the album’s nine tracks as “little moments of score from movies made in our imaginations. Now I hope it inspires people to create films that could be scored with this music.” At 66 years young, Lost Themes marks the famed director’s first music divorced from moving pictures.

You can stream “Vortex”, the record’s evocative, intense opening statement, below. Scroll down further still for the cover art and tracklist. Additionally, Sacred Bones Records, who is also responsible for putting out fellow weirdo-film legend David Lynch’s albums, has teamed up with Jesse Von Doom to create a montage randomizer of essential clips from Carpenter’s filmic oeuvre for a unique visual accompaniment to the track. Lost Themes comes out on February 3rd.

Lost Themes tracklist

1. VortexNeil-Young_Storytone_2014
2. Obsidian
3. Fallen
4. Domain
5. Mystery
6. Abyss
7. Wraith
8. Purgatory
9. Night