Through the winding, wild years, the Carpenter-Davies trio has been churning out tunes like there’s no tomorrow, dropping a cool dozen sonic bombs that range from full-blown studio masterpieces to the spine-tingling scores of David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboots. The gang’s got music in their marrow – Daniel’s father is Dave Davies of The Kinks. For years he has dropped by the Carpenters’ L.A. beat factory to riff with the fam or take the stage at one of John’s legendary movie wrap shindigs. It’s this kind of kismet that makes Lost Themes IV: Noir glide smoother than a greased-up DeLorean. The trio hit the creative jackpot, and Noir is the proof in the pudding.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is hitting the shelves and streaming platforms this May 3rd, courtesy Sacred Bones Records. To whip up a frenzy, the trio dropped a killer music video for My Name Is Death, the album’s lead single – which doubles as a bite-sized noir thriller, all thanks to the directorial genius of Ambar Navarro.

“Noir is a uniquely American genre born in post-war cinema,” states John Carpenter. “ We grew up loving Noir and were influenced by it for this new album.  The video celebrates this style and our new song, My Name is Death.”

This track is a whole new playground for Carpenter and the gang, riding in on a wave of post-punk bass that’s as relentless as Chandler’s Philip Marlowe himself. The atmosphere’s thick with synths, the drum machine’s got a heartbeat of its own, and just when you think it can’t get any hotter, in comes a guitar solo that sets the whole scene ablaze. The clip a classic mystery with a twist, featuring a lineup of faces you might just recognize, including Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood), Staz Lindes (The Paranoyds), and Misha Lindes (SadGirl) for bringing the drama. Buckle up, because My Name Is Death is about to take you on a wild ride.

Watch below:

“Sandy [King, John’s wife and producer] had given John a book for Christmas, of pictures from noir films, all stills from that era,” Davies says of the lightbulb moment for Lost Themes IV. “I was looking through it, and I thought, ‘I like that imagery, and what those titles make me think of. What if we loosely based it around that? What if the titles were of some of John’s favorite noir films?’” Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes the songs on Lost Themes IV “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 noir quality, then, is something you understand instinctively when you hear it. “Some of the music is heavy guitar riffs, which is not in old noir films,” Davies notes. “But somehow, it’s connected in an emotional way.”

Pre-order Lost Themes IV: Noir here in the following formats:

• Sacred Bones Exclusive Red on Clear Splatter vinyl w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.

• Sacred Bones Society Exclusive on Black and White Splatter on Clear w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.

• All retail Transparent Red, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.

• Indie Exclusive Tan and Black Marble, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.

• Rough Trade Exclusive Oxblood Red and Black Splatter, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.

• Shout Exclusive Black and Clear cloudy, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.

• Black LP, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.

• CD

• Tape

Follow John Carpenter:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Website

The post John Carpenter Debuts Video for “My Name Is Death” from “Lost Themes IV: Noir” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The new cover track of The Cars’ “Stranger Eyes” is just begging to be cut along with some sort of sweat and spandex laden training montage, and this makes sense, as the song was used in the theatrical trailer of the 1986 film Top Gun, but unlike Kenny Loggins’ “Dangerzone”, never made it onto the official soundtrack.

On recording the track, maestro Massimo Usai explains:

“I started the sessions for UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS in October 2018 and the tracklist took a while to materialize, but STRANGER EYES was one of the very first first tracks chosen for the project as THE CARS have had a huge influence on my songwriting.

Cody is also an admirer of their work so I immediately thought of getting him involved, but it wasn’t until September 14, 2019 that I was finally able to send him my version of the song. We were both incredibly stunned when, the very day after, news broke of Ric Ocasek’s passing.

So, naturally, this is dedicated to the memory of Ric and Benjamin Orr, keeping surviving members Elliot Easton, David Robinson and Greg Hawkes in our minds.

THE CARS changed the course of modern music and my gratitude for what they accomplished together and shared with all of us is endless.

Listen to Confrontational’s cover of “Stranger Eyes” below:

Purchase the digital release of Under Cover of Darkness here

For vinyl and CD preorders here

The post Begin Your 80s Training Montage with Confrontational’s Cover of The Cars’ “Stranger Eyes” (Featuring Cody Carpenter) appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Here some more info on Kingdom of Night courtesy of Massimo:

“The tracks on ‘Kingdom of Night’ (the second entry in a trilogy that started with ‘A Dance of Shadows’) are sounding darker, deeper and heavier than ever before. There was a deliberate focus on trying to create some classic anthems in the songwriting process – tracks with relentless beats, an emphasis on melody and a really driving chorus. I was heavily influenced by my hometown of Cagliari, Sardinia, and its esoteric aura can be felt strongly throughout the LP in more than one way.

The new collaborations make me extremely proud of the release: the unmistakable lead synth of the amazing Cody Carpenter (co-author of the LOST THEMES albums with his father John) is coming back with a vengeance on “Crimson Curtains”, the powerful dual harmonies from Dance With The Dead guitarist Tony Kim on “Stand Your Ground”, there’s the cinematic melancholia of Ugo Laurenti (the Italian composer who scored Pupi Avati’s cult series ‘Voci Notturne’) on “Midnight Wings”, and then the beautiful, haunting voice of Hélène De Thoury (of French cold-wave act Hante.) on “Keep Faith”, which marks an emotional highlight on the album. The epic sound stones of the late Sardinian sculptor Pinuccio Sciola also make a special appearance on the tracklisting.

“Keep Faith” is certainly the most soul-baring moment on the LP, and getting to work on it with Hélène has been nothing short of incredible: I feel the way our voices intertwine on the track is wonderful, unique and very precious. I’m so grateful that we found this connection through the music – I am a huge fan of her work with HANTE. and I am truly thankful for her dedicated and heartfelt contribution.”

Live dates: 

18 September – SYNTHZILLA 2 pre-party (with DANCE WITH THE DEAD, ARTEMUS GORDON and M A L M Ö) – LA MARQUISE, Lyon (FRANCE) – tickets: https://www.weezevent.com/synthzilla-preparty-dance-with-the-dead-and-guests

KINGDOM OF NIGHT pre-order link (both physical & digital): https://confrontational.bandcamp.com/
http://confrontational.net
https://twitter.com/confrontationaI
https://facebook.com/2confrontational
http://soundcloud.com/2confrontational
http://instagram.com/2confrontational
http://confrontational.bandcamp.com

Pick up A DANCE OF SHADOWS which just got issued by Bronson Recordings on translucent green vinyl (limited to 500 hand numbered copies and including an extended poster with full lyrics) and this is the link to order it: http://bit.ly/ConfrontationalAdos

The post Confrontational premiere “Keep Faith”—featuring Hante’s Hélène De Thoury | A must listen for Stranger Things fans! appeared first on Post-Punk.com.