The Horrors' Faris Badwan Discusses Cat's Eyes' Soundtrack for New Peter Strickland Film

BY Matthew RitchiePublished May 7, 2014

Although his main musical act the Horrors are celebrating the release of their long-awaited fourth album Luminous this week, frontman Faris Badwan shared some details with Exclaim! about his musical side-project Cat's Eyes' upcoming soundtrack for British director Peter Strickland's new film, The Duke of Burgundy.

According to Badwan, the duo (which is made up of Badwan and Canadian soprano Rachel Zeffira) first gained Strickland's attention with the girl group-obsessed sounds of their 2011 self-titled debut.

Although neither performer had worked on a soundtrack previously, Badwan says partnering with Strickland (who previously employed Broadcast to soundtrack his 2012 feature Berberian Sound Studio) was a natural fit for the band.

"There's a lot of things I like, but in terms of films, you have to find the independent ones to really get into them. I think this one is going to be one of my favourite films of the last few years, really."

Inspired by the likes of James Bond composer John Barry, Ennio Morricone and other Italian soundtrack composers from the '70s, Badwan describes the band's new LP as a continuation on the "twisted" orchestral compositions found on the pair's debut, but is quick to add Zeffira is the main vocalist on the record.

"The film is about a world without men," he laughs, "so I wasn't allowed to do any singing."

Produced in between sessions for the new Horrors LP, the soundtrack was recorded in part at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, while other tracks from the album were created at the duo's home studio — a move that created its own set of problems during the recording process for the band.

"Rachel went through a whole period of time where she was collecting percussion instruments, and they really started to fill up the house," he says. "I remember some of my friends would come over and they'd get really excited to play these weird things, but she's kind of curbed that habit."

Although the album is set to feature a wide array of instrumentation — including a number of Turkish instruments and Zeffira's main instrument, the oboe — Badwan says the soundtrack is more about creating a mood than anything else.

"A lot of times it's more about creating an ambiguous sound," he says. "I think that's what makes an atmosphere, when you're not really sure what a sound is sometimes."

Although a release date hasn't been announced, Badwan says The Duke of Burgundy should be hitting theatres by the end of the year, with a hard copy release of the soundtrack following shortly thereafter.

"I've never released a soundtrack record, so I'm kind of interested to see what can be done with it," he says. "Just like it's exciting to try new ways of making things, it's kind of exciting to try new ways of releasing them."

The Horrors new album, Luminous, is out now on XL Recordings. As recently reported, the band are heading out on a North American fall tour, and you can see all the dates below.

Tour dates:

10/13 San Diego, CA - Belly Up *
10/14 Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory *
10/15 Los Angeles, CA - Mayan Theatre *
10/16 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore *
10/18 Seattle, WA - The Neptune *
10/19 Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw *
10/20 Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre *
10/22 Salt Lake City, UT - Bar Deluxe *
10/23 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre *
10/24 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room *
10/25 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line *
10/27 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall *
10/28 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
10/30 Toronto, ON - Opera House *
10/31 Montreal, QC - Corona Theatre *
11/01 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club *
11/02 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer *
11/04 New York, NY - Stage 48 *
11/05 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
11/06 Washington D.C. - Black Cat *
11/07 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
11/08 Atlanta, GA - The Variety Playhouse *
11/10 Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's *
11/11 Dallas, TX - The Cambridge Room at HOB *
11/12 Austin, TX - The Parish *

* with Moon Duo

 

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