Jordan Peele fans, listen up. Paste and Waxwork Records are joining forces to give one lucky reader a deluxe double LP copy of the Us soundtrack on vinyl.
Composer Michael Abels first worked with writer-director Peele on the latter’s breakthrough Oscar-winner, 2017’s Get Out. For Us—the story of an American family confronting terrifying doppelgangers of themselves—Abels had a singular vision: finding the scary in the unfamiliar. “It is the things that we can’t place, and that we don’t expect, that take us to that place of fear,” Abels says. “We wanted to really strike terror into the audience.”
And as anyone who’s ever spent time in a public space knows, there’s nothing more terrifying than other people. Abels taps into that here, using a 30-person choir—a third of them children—on opener “Anthem.” Violins, percussion and a virtual instrument called the Propanium appear throughout the set, as well. “The Propanium drum has a sound that’s both otherworldly but not electronic or like science fiction,” says Abels. “It’s a sound you can’t quite put your finger on, which is why it works well in this film.”
Also included on the soundtrack is Janelle Monáe’s “I Like That” and Luniz’s 1995 hit “I Got 5 On It.” Abels helped with a new arrangement of the latter, which is featured on the soundtrack as the “Tethered Mix from Us.”
This deluxe edition is overflowing with features and would make an excellent addition to any film score nerd’s collection:
A 180 gram “Metallic Brass Scissors” colored vinyl for disc one, and “Tethered Red Jumpsuit” colored vinyl for disc two. The album artwork was created by illustrator Edward Kinsella. The interactive packaging includes die-cut inner gatefold jackets that require customers to use scissors to cut through family-member portraits to reveal their tethered doppelgängers lurking in the shadows on the printed inner sleeves housed within. More deluxe items include a die-cut mirror board back cover, a heavyweight 11”x11” art print, and an exclusive essay by UCLA Professor, scholar and activist Shana L. Redmond Ph.D, author of Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora.
Us was written and directed by Jordan Peele, and released earlier this year, earning more than $250 million at the box office. It stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke.
Readers who would like to win the deluxe double LP Us soundtrack may enter here. U.S. entries only. Contest runs Friday, Aug. 23, through Friday, Aug. 30, at 11:59:59 p.m. ET.
Listen to Abel’s score and check out the LP’s album art below. The soundtrack is also available for purchase at Waxwork’s store page.
Us Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Art:
