Musical theatre composer Joe Iconis drops new Halloween-themed album

Musical theatre composer Joe Iconis has dropped a new Halloween-themed album.

The award-winning songwriter behind Be More Chill has released new Halloween compilation A(aaagh!)lbum available now to stream and download here.

The new album features 10 selections from Album, Iconis’ sprawling new 44-track collection released earlier this year. In addition, the release includes one previously-unissued track, “Haddonfield, 15 Years Later (For Judith) Alternative Version.”

The new compilation features performances by Liz Lark Brown, Lauren Marcus, Jeremy Morse, Lorinda Lisitza, Andrew Rannells, Lance Rubin, George Salazar, Taylor Trensch, Jared Weiss and Jason SweetTooth Williams.

A(aaagh!)lbum was produced by Iconis, Ian Kagey, and Charlie Rosen, executive produced by Randi Zuckerberg, features music direction by Danielle Gimbal, and choir arrangements by Joel Waggoner.

Iconis says of the record: “The spirit of Halloween has always managed to find its way into my work either on the surface or bubbling just below. Many of my standalone songs have a certain ghoulish quality and even more are inspired by films of the horror genre.

“It only made sense to compile the most macabre tunes off my recently released Album into a new collection entitled A(aaagh!)lbum. Songs featured are inspired by films such as Death Becomes Her (Helen Sharp), Psycho (Norman), Beetlejuice (Lydia’s Song), Misery (The Nurse and the Addict) and deal with seasonally-appropriate subjects like domesticated werewolves, murderous Brooklynites, and skeleton besties.”

He continues: “The centerpiece of the collection is Haddonfield, 15 Years Later (For Judith), The song is heard in both its original version and in a brand new alternative mix by Ian Kagey that allows the listener to hear the stunning choir arrangement by Joel Waggoner with new clarity.

“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. 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.”