With her unique viewpoint and sharp, childlike phrasing, celebrated arthouse musician Joanna Newsom seems an unlikely choice to be a horror movie balladeer. But that is probably what makes the inclusion of her delicately punctuated Sprout and the Bean, used in both 2008’s The Strangers and this year’s The Strangers: Chapter 1, so cinematically effective.
In both films the song plays as the heroines of each piece, Liv Tyler and Madelaine Petsch respectively, celebrate a moment of solitude in a secluded home. Thus, the sweetness of the tune functions as a wonderful red herring. It is a calming lullaby that, ultimately, leads to an evening of twisted torture and bloody despair.
With talent running deeper than a knife slash, Newsom’s strange sonic world has definitely developed over three more albums — Sprout is featured on her simpler yet evocative first recording, The Milk-Eyed Mender. As 2006’s Ys and 2010’s Have One on Me are considered by many discerning critics to be modern classics, now seems the perfect time for the uninitiated to take a deep dive into her singular catalog.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Big Gay Horror Fan 