It is time for something cozy, experimental and noir-styled. I am talking about Canadian duo named “Last Ex”. Lovers of noir, David Lynch, dark jazz and mysteries, get ready! We are about to start our wonderful journey into something dark, beautiful and sophisticated.
Last Ex is a project of two members (Oliver Fairfield and Simon Trottier) of a freak-folk band called “Timber Timbre”. Last Ex released their self-titled LP in 2014. It is their first and only album for now. They recorded all the material as a soundtrack for a horror-movie, but something went wrong and all this music was not used in the film. Guys reworked all the stuff and released it under the name of Last Ex. That movie was titled “The Last Exorcism Part 2”, so it’s not hard to guess where the band’s name comes from.
Last Ex music makes you feel like being lost in a weird motel full of strange persons. Groovy drums mixed with viscous blues make you remember Angelo Badalamenti and “Twin Peaks”. But it sounds different, in its own way and authentic. All the tracks are instrumental, melodies are viscid and meticulous. Sometimes it seems you’re listening to some scary hip hop in an empty asylum. Then you go to another track and find yourself dancing a haunted boogie in a red room. Last Ex’s cinematic music makes you wonder: “Where is the camera? Where did they hide it?!” You might feel like a horror actor on the set while listening to this album. And I think it’s the best effect the duo was aiming for.
Last Ex sounds like a really ingenious horror soundtrack should. Plus each and every instrumental is different, and everytime it feels like you’re listening to the last track. I don’t know why it didn’t work for the movie, but, perhaps, it’s even better this way. Who knows how it sounded in the beginning. But now we have a really great and strange LP in our collection. And it will be listened to over and over, no doubt.
Some useful links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lastexband Constellation Records: http://cstrecords.org/last-ex/
