The Sound Of 'Candyman' Comes From A Hauntingly Cyclical History
In the opening moments of the new adaptation of Candyman, the searing sound of sub-harmonic frequencies unravel into a grim symphony of voices. Directed by Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) and co-written with oscar-winner Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us, Nope) as a "spiritual sequel" to Bernard Rose's 1992 adaptation, Candyman is soundtracked by veteran sound artist and composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. Throughout Candyman, Lowe's voice and modular synthesis compositions showcase his disciplined practice of conjuring ambient drones and a binaural sound world that enhances the film beyond the normal scope of its already dense and thoroughly explored folklore. In tracks like "The Sweet" or "Leaves a Stain," Lowe's score doesn't merely complement the action of the scenes; instead, he evokes the emotional conditions of the film with sound, using ritual hums and murmurs, accelerated and unified by undulating improvisational harmolodic expressions that draw on sonic legacies of horror storytelling.
Lowe's solo recorded works span nearly two decades. In this time, he has regularly collaborated with his spouse Rose Lazar, new and DC comics psychological thriller . Monkeypaw Productions (, , ) contacted Lowe in the early months of 2019 with an offer to score an unnamed horror film. Lowe explains that he quickly agreed, exchanging ideas with lead producer Ian Cooper on how to bring the adaptation to life. "It's a project that I wanted to be involved with," he says, "due to the fact that not only am I a fan of the original film, but also [writer] Clive Barker's whole cinematic universe and also Monkeypaw and what they've done with the film projects they've made and embraced."
