Earlier this year, Haute & Freddy, the duo of big-deal pop songwriters Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp, released Big Disgrace, a seriously fun album of theatrical, maximalist, big-personality pop music with heavy Chappell Roan/Lady Gaga vibes. The duo's single "Touch Touch" followed in August. Right now, Haute & Freddy are getting a big boost from Mike Flanagan's new Prime Video adaptation of the Stephen King classic Carrie, so it's a great time to release another new single and to drop the Peter Gabriel cover that already appeared on the show.
As it happens, my wife and I finished watching Carrie last night. Pretty fun! I don't think it's anywhere near the level of Flanagan's old series Midnight Mass, which I consider to be a kind of masterpiece, but I had a good time with it. Flanagan has taken some big liberties with King's novel and Brian De Palma's beloved movie version. He has moved the story up to the present, and he has made some surprising adjustments. I don't think the twists were improvements or anything, but I was into them. If you're going to tell an old story again, you should switch it up and put your stamp on it. Flanagan nailed the casting and the finale, which are what matters the most when it comes to Carrie.
As previously noted, there is a lot of Haute & Freddy in Carrie. Flanagan says that the group's album helped inspire his version of the Carrie story, and he included eight of their songs. I liked Big Disgrace when it arrived in February, but I have listened to it a lot more since I started watching Carrie. So this is an ideal time for the duo to release "Film Noir," an '80s-style synthpop jam. Great song! in a press release, the duo says, "It should come as no shock to the royal court that we wanted our Halloween offering to feel as though the phantom himself created it. Though no mere mortal could ever wear his mask, we can always try to conjure as much drama and lust into 3:48 seconds." Amalia Irons directed the spooky-glammy black-and-white video.
As a digital B-side, Haute & Freddy have also shared their take on "In Your Eyes," the eternal teen-movie chestnut that Peter Gabriel released in 1986 and that found another life when John Cusack held up the Say Anything boom box three years later. Haute & Freddy's cover appears as diegetic music in the Carrie prom scene.
There's another new Haute & Freddy song, too. It's called "Do You Remember The Lilacs," and it also appeared in Carrie. Right now, though, it's an Amazon Music exclusive, so you're on your own there. I guess you'll just have to sign up for that streaming service to hear it. You shouldn't even bother checking for it anywhere else. Big Disgrace is out now on Atlantic.