By Mark Young
Enter Sam Haynes with a just-in-time release for Halloween that’s absolutely on point for any party or streaming playlist. If you imagine the usual songs trotted out at this time of year, from Monster Mash, Ghostbusters and Thriller through to harder-edged fare such as Dragula or Fear of the Dark, then this set slides seamlessly into the mix. It’s billed as an alternative release and, to an extent, it is.
What you get is an album that blends vocal-heavy performances with instrumentals that echo artists such as Depeche Mode and, at times, the darker theatrical edge of Marilyn Manson. A prime example is Covered in Flies (ft Gary Bennett and Cleopatra), which should get you up and moving without much encouragement.
Starting the show off, Haynes channels classic sounds like The Cramps on It’s Halloween (ft Gary Bennett and Maxy B), with Maxy’s vocals doing a sterling job here and again on Halloween Dance (ft Maxy B), which carries a definite nod to The Munsters, and that’s never a bad thing. By changing the style and approach from track to track, Haynes avoids any sense of familiarity creeping in. If you’re using this as the backdrop to a Halloween party, you can simply leave it running and let it do the work for you.
What shines through most is the obvious love for the genre and how it’s applied here. These songs aren’t half-baked or lacking in identity. Much of the material sounds like something you’d hear in a club and immediately feel compelled to move to, particularly the instrumental pieces. The vocal-led tracks are good, but they’re perhaps tied more closely to a certain time of year.
Midnight Phantom is a track you could happily dance to at any point in the calendar, which for me proves this collection deserves to be taken seriously rather than being dismissed as a niche seasonal offering. That constant desire to approach each track differently allows Haynes to mine influences ranging from punk on the Billy Idol-flavoured A Haunting, which rocks harder than it has any right to, through to the organ-driven Night Tracks, before settling on Eve Valentine – The Game, a track that feels tailor-made for a film or genre soundtrack.
Ultimately, it’s a very good collection, one that should find plenty of willing homes over the coming month or so. What shouldn’t be overlooked, however, is that a lot of the music here has real longevity outside of Halloween, whether that’s at film festivals, genre events or clubs that embrace darker material. Give it a go. I suspect you’ll find plenty to love.
