Scott Walker's "The Drift": an experimental album for fans of unsettling music
The Verge's Terrence O'Brien recommends singer-songwriter Scott Walker's 2006 album "The Drift" as some of the most frightening music for the Halloween season. Its subjects are death, disease and tragedy, set against a highly experimental soundscape.
Terrence O'Brien, writing for the technology and culture outlet The Verge, singles out singer-songwriter Scott Walker's 2006 album "The Drift" in his picks for Halloween-season listening. He presents it as an example of music that is genuinely terrifying rather than merely fun or goofy, like "The Monster Mash" or John Carpenter's "Halloween Theme."
Dark subject matter
According to the reviewer, the album deals with death, disease and tragedy, and does so concretely rather than abstractly. The songs include vivid descriptions of the hanging of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci. Walker also sings about the 9/11 attacks, his stillborn twin brother and the Srebrenica genocide.
An experimental sound
The reviewer argues that the soundscape drives the darkness home. At times the record resembles the score of a film by director Ari Aster more than anything that could be called pop music. In "Jesse," seasick guitars in the verses give way to dissonant strings over the chorus. "Clara" opens with low-bitrate MP3 noise, and it allegedly features the sound of the percussionist punching a pig carcass as part of the rhythm track.
Songs stop abruptly, linger in uncomfortable silence, then erupt in bursts of mechanical noise. Animal bleating, foley work and atonal orchestral sections grind against Walker's warbling voice. Nothing is ever quite in tune, so the album can be hard to get through in one sitting unless the listener is in a particular mood. Still, the reviewer says that sticking with it can be rewarding.
How it feels
The reviewer says the album does not produce pleasant shivers or goosebumps. Instead it prompts an involuntary physical reaction closer to a shudder, one that makes the skin crawl. "The Drift" is available on Bandcamp and most major streaming services, including YouTube Music, Apple Music, Qobuz, Deezer and Spotify.
