Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself

Lets Eat Grandmas Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth are part of a generation of musicians whose outside projects are as authentic as anything that appears on their own albums. Their youthful bravery, camaraderie, and experimentation is a perfect fit for the soundtrack to Half Bad: The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself, Netflixs adaptation of Sally Greens book series about warring factions of witches who live amongst humans. Writer Joe Barton and director Colm McCarthy worked closely with Lets Eat Grandma during the shows development, using their music in mood boards before filming and creating scenes organically around Hollingworth and Waltons compositions wrote. Its an unusual creative process, but an effective one: Half Bad dives deeper into the dark whimsy of the duos first album I, Gemini while matching the series visual wizardry. Though Lets Eat Grandmas score sounds nothing like the music for another adaptation of a popular young adult book series dealing with witchcraft, the sense of Half Bads world, moods, and characters is just as strong. "Kicking Up Dust"s glowing ambience and decaying rhythms thrum with magical potential; the creaky, double-jointed melody, choral vocals, and mandolin on "Rhythmic Creatures 2" embody the mischief and menace of the storys universe; and the warped synth strings and eerie flute on "Mercurys Theme" cast a spell effortlessly. Lets Eat Grandmas emphasis on electronics adds a welcome freshness and element of surprise to Half Bad: The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself. On cues such as "Mouse Feet," the stair-stepping arpeggios and blobby synth bass resemble the music from a sci-fi thriller like Ex Machina rather than a typical fantasy score. Here and on the plinking "Money Spiders" -- which strikes a mood somewhere between the Brothers Grimm and Philip K. Dick -- Half Bad recalls artists such as Clark in its contrast of haunted melodies and aggressive tones and rhythms. Walton and Hollingworth capture the power of first love just as vividly with "Wanted You to Share It"s 1980s-meets-2020s synth pop drama and the aptly named "Skin Shimmers," a track that suggests New Order in a rainstorm. Lets Eat Grandma uncover just as much range within the scores motifs, most notably its main theme. "Half Bad" plunges listeners into the projects futuristic fairytale world, but it becomes increasingly somber each time it returns. Half Bad: The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself remains true to Lets Eat Grandmas artistic vision while revealing more layers to their music -- and its impressive enough in its own right to win over soundtrack fans who havent heard the duos other work. ~ Heather Phares