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Mar 08, 2019 By Christopher Roberts M83

Yesterday M83 (aka Anthony Gonzalez) announced a new soundtrack for the film Knife + Heart and shared its first song, the instrumental track “Karl.” There wasn’t much advance notice and the soundtrack came out digitally today via Mute. Now that it’s out, you can stream the whole thing below.

Knife + Heart was directed by Gonzalez’s brother, Yann Gonzalez, and premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The album finds Anthony Gonzalez collaborating with original M83 member Nicolas Fromageau for the first time since M83’s first two full-length releases, 2001’s self-titled studio and 2003’s Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. Since then it’s been a solo project for Gonzalez, aided by various guest collaborators and live band members over the years.

A press release describes the film this way: “Knife + Heart is a noir-tinged erotic slasher that explores the seedy underbelly of Paris in the 1970s. Vanessa Paradis stars as Anne, the producer of third-rate gay pornography who strives to win back the affections of Lois - her editor and erstwhile lover - by shooting her most ambitious film yet. But events take a violent and dark turn when one after another, Anne’s actors fall prey to a masked killer whose bloodlust knows no bounds.”

Yann Gonzalez had this to say about the soundtrack: “We wanted to recapture the Gialli ambiance of the ‘70s, to feel that sinister yet sentimental tone. Anthony and I
are both poetical and even sentimental, in a certain way. We wanted to dive in headlong,
particularly as melancholy and poetry are found in numerous ‘70s horror film soundtracks, from films by Lucio Fulci to those by Mario Bava. I’m thinking in particular of the harrowing soundtracks of Don’t Torture a Duckling or Twitch of the Death Nerve.”

Yann Gonzalez adds: “This principle of pleasure came rushing back. I got Anthony to listen to some old soundtracks from straight and gay porn films. He quickly gathered the musical codes and finally, the most beautiful tracks in Knife + Heart - the most pleasurable ones - are probably the ones he recreated for the film’s fake porn movies.”

M83 previously did the soundtrack for Yann Gonzalez’s debut full-length feature, 2013’s You and the Night.

M83’s last album, Junk, was our fourth favorite album of 2016. We posted two reviews of Junk, one mixed and one rave. Also read our 2016 in-depth cover story on M83.

Knife + Heart Screenings:

March 15-21 - New York, NY - The Roxy Cinema Tribeca *
March 15-21 - Brooklyn, NY - Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn *
March 22-28 - Los Angeles, CA - Landmark’s Nuart Theatre +
March 23 - Boston, MA - Boston Underground Film Festival
March 27-April 4 - San Francisco, CA - Alamo Drafthouse Mission *
March 28-29 - Cleveland, OH - Cleveland International Film Festival
March 29 - Boston, MA - WickedQueer
March 29-April 4 - Los Angeles, CA - Arena Cinelounge
March 29-April 4- Yonkers, NY - Alamo Drafthouse
April 3 - Washington, DC - Alamo Drafthouse Woodbridge
April 5-6 - Detroit, MI - Landmark’s Main Art Theatre
April 5-11 - Chicago, IL - Music Box Theatre ^
April 5-11 - Philadelphia, PA - Landmark’s Ritz at The Bourse
April 5-18 - Grand Rapids, Michigan - Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts
April 12-19 - Austin, TX - Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar ^
April 13 - Bethlehem, PA - Frank Banko Alehouse
April 19-25 - Denver, CO - Sie FilmCenter ^
April 19-25 - Phoenix, AZ - FilmBar
April 19-25 - Tucson, AZ - The Loft Cinema
April 23 - Winchester, VA - Alamo Drafthouse Winchester
April 26 - Pittsburgh, PA - PUFF/Reel Q
April 28 - St. Louis, MO - QFest
May 2 - Milwaukee, WI - Union Cinema ^
May 8 - Iowa City, IA - FilmScene

^ 35mm screening April 5-7 at The Music Box Theatre, April 12-14 at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, April 19-21 at Sie FilmCenter and May 2 at Union Cinema

* 35mm screening and Q&A with Yann Gonzalez on March 15 at The Roxy, March 16 at Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn and March 27 at Alamo Drafthouse Mission

+ 35mm screening and Q&A with Yann Gonzalez and co-writer Cristiano Mangione on March 22 and 23 at Nuart Theatre

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