Back in 2009, Ryan Gosling was an indie film star who'd dabbled in indie music. in the stretch of time between his leading roles in 2007's Lars And The Real Girl and 2010's Blue Valentine, Gosling got together with the musician Zach Shields and formed the spooky indie rock band Dead Man's Bones. The group recorded their self-titled debut album with the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir backing them up, and they did a little touring around Halloween 2009. Dead Man's Bones were a very cool little curio of its era, and nobody really expected them to return. But now, Dead Man's Bones are coming back like Lazarus.
These days, Ryan Gosling is not an indie film star. He is about as mainstream as movie stars get. His most recent picture, Project Hail Mary, is one of the year's biggest. His next two efforts are a Star Wars movie, Starfighter, and a Marvel movie, Ghost Rider. Even as a musician, Gosling is in a different realm now; he reached the pop charts a few years ago, when he sang "I'm Just Ken" in Barbie. So the return of Dead Man's Bones is a cool, welcome surprise. The group made the big announcement in a social media video yesterday: New music coming Oct. 27, just in time for Halloween. The teaser video is appropriately spooky.
The label ANTI- posted the video, too, so it looks like they'll release whatever's coming, just as they did with that self-titled album in 2009. When Stereogum's Instagram posted about the announcement last night, our commenters were unanimous in their approval, which never happens. On her own Instagram last night, Gosling's partner Eva Mendes posted the teaser video with this caption: "He came through on his promise to me." Perhaps we have her to thank.
Before the announcement, Redditors noticed that Gosling and Mendes' stylist Mark Avery was posting about "Dead Man's Bones on Halloween."
When Ryan Gosling was promoting Barbie in 2023, one interviewer asked him about the possibility of a Dead Man's Bones revival, and he said, "Maybe. Never say never?" NME also got Gosling talking about the band when he was promoting Project Hail Mary earlier this year.