Wish Upon
Released by Lakeshore Records, 2017
25 Tracks with a Total Running time of 42 min.
Music by tomandandy

When four notes of a score hook you in, showing just what kind of music you’re in for, the composer has done something right. There are a ton of scores out there that while are good and fill out the background while the movie is playing, a good and creepy score will grab you right away, burrowing its way into your psyche. The four notes that I mentioned are used throughout the entire score, but it is that one chilling part that gets you.

This new score, by the talented team of tomandandy (musicians Thomas Hadju and Andy Milburn), does an effective job of creating a very creepy and uneasy mood. The distorted sounds of the music box that we first hear, is something out of a nightmare and resonates deep in your brain. There are other more somber tracks, like #2 The Opening, and track #3 The Dream, is pretty much an audible nightmare. Nothing loud and scary, but are the sounds one can imagine while drifting off to sleep and into a nightmare. But it is not all just little quiet and twisted music box notes here. There are parts where a loud jolt of sound, like air horn or something, almost like feedback comes  bursting out from the speakers. Usually I’m not a fan of a loud electronic buzzing in the background, but it is done in moderation here and I think still gives an effective feel to it. There is a combination of the sounds of the music box notes and these long drawn out notes that build up in loudness and intensity, that I think are very effective for what the score is trying to do.

The only issue is that some might have a problem with is the fact that those four notes are used throughout the score. But I think when you have an effective piece of music, run with it! It builds up the atmosphere.

I’ve always been impressed with the scores that tomandandy have created and this one is no different.