VIA PRESS RELEASE | Danny Elfman has announced a brand new collector’s edition box set of his critically acclaimed new album Big Mess.
Limited to 1,500 copies worldwide, the stunning release offers fans the ultimate window into the creation of the groundbreaking project and includes four LPs on exclusive color variants, featuring all 18 songs from Big Mess along with bonus discs containing unreleased reinterpretations of tracks from the album. In addition to the heralded duet version of “True” featuring Trent Reznor, the bonus discs will be comprised of new remixes from HEALTH, clipping. and more, as well as never-before-released songs with featured vocalists including Rebekah Del Rio, FEVER333, Blixa Bargeld, and a second vocal collaboration with Reznor.
Each record is held in its own unique jacket featuring a 3D lenticular print on the cover and is accompanied by a 60 page, hardcover artbook containing never-before-seen renderings of the distinctively unsettling digital sculptures of Elfman done by Sarah Sitkin, who crafted the album’s original artwork.
The special box set also includes a 20 page stitched soft cover lyric book with behind-the-scenes photos, a 12” x 9” art print signed by Danny himself, a detailed life-sized light up model of Elfman’s peculiar hand designed to be a stand-alone showpiece or one-of-a-kind night-light, and a code which provides downloadable digital audio files and a behind-the-scenes mini documentary on the making of Big Mess. All components are housed in a high quality two-piece box with liquid embossing on the cover and spot gloss embossing on the cover and sides.
To celebrate the announcement, Elfman has debuted Kid606’s brand new remix of “Sorry,” which can be heard now. Kid606’s remix is the fifth collaborative effort for Elfman from Big Mess, as he previously joined forces with Zach Hill of Death Grips for a remix of “Kick Me,” worked with Squarepusher for a glitchy remix of “We Belong,” enlisted Xiu Xiu for a remix of “Serious Ground,” and teamed up with Trent Reznor for the duet version of “True”—all of which, will be featured on the deluxe box set bonus discs.
Showcasing a sonic collision of two musical icons, the reimagined single of “True” caught the eye of Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and more upon its release this summer. Watch the music video for the track now which was directed by Aron Johnson, who contributed visual effects to the Sarah Sitkin-directed music video for the album version of “True.” Combining segments of Sitkin’s archived footage along with brand new 3D modeling, the visual serves as a remix in itself of the original music video, reinterpreted through the eyes of Aron.
Following the release of several dynamic singles and aesthetically inventive videos over the past year, Elfman officially unveiled Big Mess in June, his first solo record in thirty-seven years. Clocking in at 18 tracks, the expansive double album finds the 4x Oscar nominated, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning composer breaking bold new ground as both a songwriter and a performer.
Joined on the album by drummer Josh Freese (Devo, Weezer, The Vandals), bassist Stu Brooks (Dub Trio, Lady Gaga, Lauryn Hill), and guitarists Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses) and Nili Brosh (Tony MacAlpine, Paul Gilbert), the project has garnered widespread praise since its release including the LA Times, who called it a “a fiercely political work filled with bombastic peaks and strikingly meditative valleys.”
The songs on Big Mess unite both harmonically complex arrangements and simple high energy driving music with biting, acerbic wit as they reckon with the chaos and confusion of the modern world. These feelings of anger, angst and frustration that permeate Big Mess are explored in the album’s artwork and music videos, which push the boundaries between art and technology and each feature Danny in distinct ways.
For the cover artwork, Elfman was 3D scanned and transformed into a grotesque looking digital sculpture by Sarah Sitkin. Using CGI, 3D technology, motion capture and artificial intelligence, each music video was uniquely made and are inextricable from the songs that inspired them. Led overall by Elfman’s creative director Berit Gwendolyn Gilma, each of the video’s directors—Aron Johnson (“Happy”), Jesse Kanda (“Sorry”), Sven Gutjahr (“Love In The Time of Covid”), Petros Papahadjopoulos (“Kick Me”), Sarah Sitkin (“True”), Sam & Andy Rolfes (“Insects”)—have created individual statements that shape a diverse but cohesive whole. The Big Mess album and visuals were produced by Danny Elfman and executive produced by Elfman’s longtime manager Laura Engel.
