''Lost Themes'' is the debut studio album by American film director and composer

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

. It was released on February 3, 2015, through

Sacred Bones Records Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Spellling, Blanck Mass, Crystal S ...

. Carpenter created ''Lost Themes'' in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and his godson Daniel Davies. While ''Lost Themes'' is his first stand-alone album, Carpenter has composed numerous critically acclaimed

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s for films since the 1970s, including for the films '' Assault on Precinct 13'', ''

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

'', and ''

Escape from New York ''Escape from New York'' is a 1981 American Independent film, independent science fiction film, science fiction action film co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter, and starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald ...

''.

Background

On the album's production and recording, Carpenter stated:

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Lost Themes'' received positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 74, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 12 reviews. Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Heather Phares stated that "a big part of ''Lost Themes'' brilliance lies in Carpenter's refusal to update his aesthetic — the more '80s it is, the more vital it sounds." She also further commented: "As he leaps from one thrill to the next, he evokes his past without rehashing it, delivering a complete and immensely satisfying portrait of his music along the way."

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

critic Dan Bogosian thought that "Carpenter’s limited instrumentation started as a strength," writing: "these ''Lost Themes'' could stand with any of his horror soundscapes." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' critic Cam Lindsay described the album as "a brand new soundtrack that doesn't require a film" and observed: "Carpenter knows exactly how to appease his fans, and with ''Lost Themes'', he has given them just what they want." Aaron Leitko of

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

wrote: "''Lost Themes'' is plenty dark and heavy but shorter on inspiration." Andy Beta of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' was mixed in his assessment of the album, stating: "The icy synths of "Vortex" and "Fallen" evoke vintage Carpenter dread, but the prog-pomp of "Domain" and "Mystery" are the aural equivalent of too much CGI."

Charts

The album debuted at number 44 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. Stateside, Lost Themes peaked at #129 on Billboard 200.

Track listing

Personnel

– composition, performance, engineering * Cody Carpenter – composition, performance, engineering * Daniel Davies – composition, performance, engineering * Jay Shaw – design * Kyle Cassidy – photography

Legacy

''Lost Themes: 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition'', an expanded edition of the original album, will be released on May 9, 2025, via Sacred Bones Records, and will feature two previously unreleased songs: "Cruisin' with Mr. Scratch" and "Dominator".

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2015 debut albums John Carpenter albums Sacred Bones Records albums