The atmospheric horror and visceral suspense Netflix miniseries, produced by the creators of Stranger Things, features an appropriately unsettling soundtrack by Montreal’s Colin Stetson. From the outset, we are immersed in a dark and menacing atmosphere, made up of abstract electro textures. Listen to Welcome to the Family, and you’ll want to get a divorce as soon as possible. That said, most of the time, one can latch onto melodic and harmonic anchors here and there, often repetitive, minimalist in nature, strange rather than strictly frightening. Something also sometimes recalls the fragmentary, stripped-down, and pointillist style of another Montrealer, Juan Cristobal Tapia de Veer (Utopia, White Lotus), but much more sinister.
A few rare tracks flood the space with light and brief moments of optimism (The Bride). And, through these synthetic sounds, of course, saxophone notes (because Stetson is a saxophonist), rather discreet, but sometimes striking (like those repeated, menacing low notes in The Archive). One can sense that something very ugly is about to be discovered…). If Stetson generally favours ambient music that ranges from mysterious to unsettling, he sometimes offers exciting tracks with a techno-house beat, which we can guess accompany scenes edited with nervous energy (Something Red, Something Dead). Or not. I haven’t seen the series, but the music makes me terribly eager to dive into it. Of course, if horror isn’t your cup of blood, stay away.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen by Colin Stetson makes you want to be scared.
