The tale of an un-dead woman who wants to feed her very not-dead neighbors to her supremely un-dead family yields decidedly powerful music.
Horror-dramedy Dead Shack is making its rounds on the global festival circuit, and is garnering a growing fan base. Lakeshore Records is celebrating the film’s Canada debut on Halloween by releasing a special EP with a teaser of the killer score by HUMANS, along with other tracks. Today, Vehlinggo premieres one of those cuts, “Here For You,” just in time for Mischief Night. You can pre-order the entire thing right now. It comes out tomorrow on Halloween.
“Here For You,” a vocal HUMANS song featuring Phoenix Laurén, is a killer good time. Together, HUMANS (AKA Dead Shack director Peter Ricq and partner Robbie Slade) and Laurén unleash a dark and catchy number laced with haunting synths and topped with Laurén’s raspy and engaging siren pipes. “Here For You” grooves through mischievous places in a sinister and engaging way.
HUMANS and Zombies
Canadians Ricq and Slade formed electronic outfit HUMANS in 2010 and have since garnered praise for their creative approach to pairing experimental sounds with catchy, oft-poppy hooks. Their score for Dead Shack is certainly in that territory, although the spirit of classic scores by John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream, and A Nightmare on Elm Street composer Charles Bernstein are prominent.
Ricq’s film, Dead Shack, has a cool premise: While staying at a run-down cabin in the woods during the weekend, three children must save their parents from the neighbor who intends to feed them to her undead family. Or, as Slashfilm‘s Matt Donato put it, the plot is “like if that retro Zombies Ate My Neighbors SNES game was adapted, except one of the neighbors is insane and still caring for her zombie family…”
The film, released by XYZ, was first premiered at Fantasia, screening at SITGES 2017. It’ll be available on iTunes and VOD in Canada on Oct. 31.
ABout the EP
Here’s some crucial information about the EP, which includes score cues.
01. “Do For Me” – HUMANS ft. Dear Rouge
02. “Here For You” – HUMANS Ft. Phoenix Laurén
03. “Got Dumped Don’t Care” – HUMANS
04. “French Riviera” – HUMANS
05. “The Split” – HUMANS
06. “The Dead” – HUMANS
07. “It Follows Again” – HUMANS
Credits for tracks 1-4:
- Written by Peter Ricq.
- Produced and mixed by Jason Corbett at Jacknife Sounds.
- Drums performed by Adam Fink.
- Keys performed by Wesley S. Regan.
- Bass performed by Jahmeel Russell.
- Guitar and percussion performed by Jason Corbett.
- “French Riviera” written, mixed, produced and performed by Robbie Slade.
Credits for tracks 5-7 (from the original motion picture score):
- “The Split,” “The Dead,” and “It Follows Again” mixed by Peter Ricq.
- Violin performed by Dougal Bain McLean
Where’s the Score?
As the Dead Shack film awaits an American release, so does its score. Sources suggest this will all happen by the end of the year. But never fear, because as I mentioned you can snag the EP and get a taste of the score.
If you’re itching for more, here’s a behind-the-scenes/making-of video featuring a really awesome HUMANS track.
