A street-theater musician-turned-new wave artist-turned prolific film scorer,
Danny Elfman
composed music for over 100 films and TV shows between his first solo album, 1984's
So-Lo
, and this, his second, 2021's
Big Mess
. A much deeper, denser, and darker outing,
has more in common with his group
Oingo Boingo
's grim final release,
Boingo
(1994), than any of his prior pop material, though it ultimately stands on its own. It was written in 2020 while in lockdown as a series of planned concerts were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An unplanned, ranting, over-hour-long work that's both personal and directly influenced by current events, it takes the form of an orchestral hard rock that the songwriter/multi-instrumentalist pieced together with help from, among others, guitarist
Robin Finck
(
Nine Inch Nails
,
Guns N' Roses
), drummer
Josh Freese
Devo
), bassist
Stu Brooks
Dub Trio
), a string quartet, and two Budapest-based orchestras. (
bandmate and longtime scoring assistant
Steve Bartek
contributed orchestrations.) Fans of
Elfman
's celebrated work with director
Tim Burton
will be glad to find that he still brings an irrepressibly mischievous spirit to the album, though it operates in tandem with an earnest anger and frustration reflected in titles like "Choose Your Side," "Better Times," and "Love in the Time of COVID." The album opens with feedback, a power chord, and a drum fill on "Sorry," an ominous rock track. Its components include choir-like backing vocals and a wall of sound constructed of electric guitars, synths, strings, and mallet percussion, all under a steadily intensifying, explicitly worded vocal that includes sentiments like "I can't breathe while you're alive...and I'm so sorry that I didn't die." That sets the tone for many of the album's 18 tracks, though
varies tempo, topic, and approach throughout what is a well-sequenced, adventurous set. Diversions from its anguished, industrial-tipping indie rock include the quiet rumination of "In Time," the acoustic-percussion-heavy "Dance with the Lemurs," the haunting torch song "We Belong," and the hookier "Just a Human." Elsewhere, "Choose Your Side" samples a speech by then-president
Donald Trump
while holding its nose, and the thrash-injected "Kick Me" takes on celebrities, royalty, and billionaires with gusto ("Losers not invited/I'm such a sensitive guy"). Seething lead single "Happy" is an epic, theatrical highlight in line with some of the darkest tracks from
The Nightmare Before Christmas
-- if with more guitar distortion. While the powerfully cathartic
does feel overlong, it may serve as a rare case where that's masterfully appropriate. ~ Marcy Donelson