Milan Records today announces the release of UZUMAKI (ANIME SERIES ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) with music by GRAMMY® Award-winning saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and composer COLIN STETSON.
Available digitally now, the album features an original score written by Stetson for Adult Swim and Production IG USA’s animated TV series based on the iconic horror manga by Junji Ito. Both a highly coveted collaborator to the likes of Lou Reed, LCD Soundsystem, The National, Bon Iver and countless others, as well as an acclaimed composer with a diverse scoring roster including Hereditary, The Menu, Red Dead Redemption 2 and more, Stetson now makes his first foray into the world of Japanese anime with Uzumaki.
A captivating masterclass in psychological horror and obsession, Uzumaki centers on residents of a Japanese town as they become increasingly consumed by a strange curse involving spirals. As the story progresses, the spirals continue to wreak havoc on the town both physically and mentally, culminating in a dread-filled exploration of the unknown and the power of obsession. Much like the story itself, the spiral was the starting point for composer Colin Stetson as he approached the score, looking at the various ways a spiral could be translated through a musical lens.
Almost kismet in nature, an obvious initial parallel for Colin was his performance style itself, namely the circular breathing technique he has become synonymous with since the start of his career. On full display throughout the score’s 13 tracks, his singular technique manifests itself in loping, serpentine saxophone melodies, his sustained notes repeating and looping to create a hypnotic soundbed that draws viewers further into the onscreen story. He expertly intertwines distorted layers of woodwinds and strings throughout (with strings performed by frequent collaborator Matt Combs), the cyclic nature of the score turning in on itself and subverting past cues as it progresses to mirror the town’s descent into madness and chaos. The result is a mesmerizing original score that deeply parallels the thematics of the series – from his technique to the instrumentation and sonic progression – the music provides a constant companion to the horrors unfolding onscreen.
Of the score, composer Colin Stetson adds, “I absolutely adored my time making this music and inhabiting the strange, gorgeous, horrifying, and spectacular spiral world that Ito-Sensei created.”
Co-produced by Adult Swim and Production IG USA, Uzumaki premieres on Adult Swim on Saturday, September 28 at 12:30 AM during the Toonami block, with new episodes available for streaming on Max the day after. New episodes will air weekly on Saturdays in Japanese with English subtitles, with English dub encores on Thursdays at 12:30 AM beginning October 3.
TRACKLISTING –
- Uzumaki
- 2. Join me in the spiral
- 3. The eye follows the pattern
- 4. Obsession
- 5. For a split second, the drifting smoke
- 6. Kirie and Shuichi
- 7. Ruins Alive
- 8. The Labyrinth
- 9. Eerily in the dark
- 10. Hey! Are you trying to escape?!
- 11. The Eternal Spiral
- 12. Twisted souls
- 13. Medusa
Source: Press Release
