Be More Chill songwriter Joe Iconis has put together a new Halloween-themed compilation featuring 10 tracks from Album, released earlier this year, and one never-before-released track, "Haddonfield, 15 Years Later (For Judith) Alternative Version."
Spookily named A(aaagh!)lbum, the compilation includes performances from a number of Iconis' frequent collaborators, including Liz Lark Brown, Lauren Marcus, Jeremy Morse, Lorinda Lisitza, Andrew Rannells, Lance Rubin, George Salazar, Taylor Trensch, Jared Weiss, and Jason SweetTooth Williams. The tracks collected include songs inspired by the films Death Becomes Her, Psycho, Beetlejuice, and Misery.
To download or stream A(aaagh!)lbum, click here.
The new track presents a new mix (by Ian Kagey) of a track from Album that brings choral arrangements by Joel Waggoner into the fore.
"The song is an homage to John Carpenter’s masterpiece Halloween, reimagining Michael Myers (aka The Shape) as a man coming back to his hometown after many years away," says Iconis in a statement. "John Carpenter’s film and score have inspired me in countless ways over the years, most explicitly in the songs and underscore of Be More Chill (which I originally pitched as John Hughes meets John Carpenter!). Jamie Lee Curtis’s legendary performance as Halloween’s Final Girl Laurie Strode was a massive influence on my writing of Broadway Bounty Hunter, Love in Hate Nation, and the upcoming The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson. Laurie Strode is a character who symbolizes persistence, ingenuity and, above all, survival. I hope that my song does her, and the holiday she’s most closely associated with, bloody justice."
The composer, lyricist, and playwright is best known for writing the music and lyrics to the musical adaptation of Ned Vizzini's novel Be More Chill. The show premiered at New Jersey's Two River Theater before transferring to Off-Broadway, later playing runs on Broadway and in London's West End. He also helmed the musical Punk Rock Girl!, which made its world premiere at Long Island's Argyle Theater.
Album and A(aaagh!)lbum are executive produced by Randi Zuckerberg and produced by Iconis, Ian Kagey, and Charlie Rosen. It features music direction by Danielle Gimbal and choir arrangements by Joel Waggoner.