John Carpenter shares two new tracks, “Skeleton” and “Unclean Spirit”

Horror legend John Carpenter has just released his first non-soundtrack music since 2016. Today, Carpenter has shared the new single “Skeleton”/”Unclean Spirit,” which is out now digitally via Sacred Bones and available to pre-order on 12-inch vinyl (which will be released on August 28). The track is a collaboration with son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, who worked with Carpenter on the soundtrack for the 2018 Halloween film. This is the first batch of music that will eventually be compiled into a new album, Lost Themes III, which will follow 2016’s Lost Themes II.

“It was refreshing to be able to write music that didn’t have to fit to any sort of locked image,” Carpenter says in a press release. “We also had a specific focus and direction we wanted to follow when working on Halloween, both in terms of mindset and instruments, and being able to return to working without that narrow focus was refreshing. Although working on Halloween didn’t specifically influence any of these new compositions, there is always a honing of craft that must take place when working on a film like Halloween, and our improved skills definitely helped us in writing these songs.”

Hear “Skeleton” and “Unclean Spirit” below.