Swedish trio Death And Vanilla follow their much-praised re-imagined soundtracks to ‘Vampyr’ (2017) and ‘The Tenant’ (2018) with their interpretation of the soundtrack to cult 1968 TV programme ‘Whistle And I’ll Come To You‘, at a time when post-ambient electronica and bedevilled folk music are cohabiting, and the public’s interest in rites and rituals has been sparked by a new generation of fans. The bizarre storyline of ‘Whistle And I’ll Come To You’ seems even more pertinent… and strangely haunting.
The Jonathan Miller-adapted 1968 ghost story was originally part of BBC’s ‘Omnibus’ series and featured Michael Horden as a fussy professor who discovers an ancient whistle which summons up the spirits. A folkloric tale in the style of ‘The Wicker Man’, the original TV programme received rave reviews.
The esoteric live score was recorded at the Hypnos Theatre in Malmö. The 42-minute soundtrack utilises stuttering tape loops on ‘Intro’ before breathing new life into the primitive John Carpenter-like drum machine on ‘Supernatural Breakfast’, while ‘Walk On The Beach 2’ sounds like a hauntological rendition of a Broadcast classic.
That effect is amplified on ‘Nightmares’, with its swirling wind and other-worldly choral effect, before the feeling of some supernatural presence is suggested on the penultimate cut ‘Evidence Of Spiritualism’.
Death and Vanilla utilise vintage musical equipment such as vibraphone, organ, mellotron, tremolo guitar and moog, to emulate the sounds of 60s/70s soundtracks, library music, German Krautrock, French Ye-ye pop and 60s psych. They revel in the warmth of older analogue instruments to create an organic sound, each loose wire and off-kilter noise adding to the rich atmosphere.
“Deploying vintage instruments in their quest for melancholic utopia.” – Electronic Sound.
Death And Vanilla will be performing a live score accompaniment to ‘Whistle And I’ll Come To You’ at 7 select dates across the country this coming October. Their penultimate stop will be here in Brighton at the Komedia Basement on Tuesday 14th October, courtesy of Melting Vinyl promoters. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased HERE and HERE.
The full tour dates are as follows:
8th October – Cottiers, Glasgow
9th October – Kamera, Manchester
10th October – Cobalt Cinema, Newcastle
11th October – Full Of Noises, Barrow-in-Furness
12th October – Cube Cinema, Bristol
14th October – Komedia Cinema, Brighton
16th October – Moth Club, London
Tickets for ALL dates can be located HERE.
