John Carpenter is one of my top ten directors of all time. While not every movie he made was perfect, he had a stretch of some of the best genre movies ever made, and they were always his vision put to screen. And he isn’t only a great director, writer, and producer, he also happens to make super cool music—both for his films and for fun. Just last year, Carpenter released Lost Themes, a collection of his trademark minimalist synth music that never quite found its way into movies (but makes for awesome driving music). Now, Carpenter’s back with a sequel, a world tour, and more.
Lost Themes II, released via Sacred Bones, won’t be available until April 15 (though you can pre-order it on iTunes right now), but we do know it will re-team Carpenter with his son Cody and godson Daniel Davies—both of whom worked on his first album. This new release is said to include a richer sound, with the use of electric and acoustic guitars on top of the usual synthesizers. A track listing for the album is below, though none of the tracks have previews yet.
1. Distant Dream
2. White Pulse
3. Persia Rising
4. Angel’s Asylum
5. Hofner Dawn
6. Windy Death
7. Dark Blues
8. Virtual Survivor
9. Bela Lugosi
10. Last Sunrise
11. Utopian Facade
While we can’t hear these songs yet, we do know that “Distant Dream” features a familiar Carpenter beat and explodes the drumline something fierce; “Angel’s Asylum” has an “ethereal synth line” for the first three quarters and finishes up with melodic guitar; and “Virtual Survivor” is the kind of chilling sci-fi music we remember from Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 and They Live. All of that sounds pretty cool to us! And there’s a track called “Bela Lugosi,” sooooo…
On top of the new album, there will also be a world tour which will see the three musicians play some of these new songs, ones from the first record, and even some of Carpenter’s more well-known compositions for audiences everywhere. U.S. tour dates are forthcoming, but they’ve already got dates on the books for places like Barcelona, Manchester, and London.
We’ll definitely bring you any of Carpenter’s new songs as they become available. Let us know your favorite John Carpenter theme or composition in the comments below!
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Images: Kyle Cassidy/Sacred Bones
Kyle Anderson is the Weekend Editor and a film and TV critic for Nerdist.com. Follow him on Twitter!
