EMA - #Horror: Anderson’s inexperience with scoring is audible

It’s a strange time of year to release the score to a horror movie, but the festive season can be gruesome in its own way, after all.

This one, written by South Dakotan noise-folker Erika M Anderson for the Tara Subkoff-directed, Chloe Sevigny-starring film, is a mixed affair.

Anderson’s inexperience with scoring is audible on the half-finished wisps of ideas that float around in a gurgle of throbbing basslines and menacing synths, giving an impression of style over substance.

Heavily influenced by 1980s horror soundtracks, the breathy flutter of vocals on Amnesia Haze works well, while the eerie antiquated pop of Harshmellow World is strangely transfixing.

True, it may not inspire you to watch the film, but EMA’s three studio albums – the most recent released in 2014 – are worth a listen instead.