By JEFF SZPIRGLAS
Library of the Occult recently dropped the latest offering from Scottish composer Alan Sinclair (aka Repeated Viewing), who has created imaginary horror film soundtracks for over a decade. With Break The Faith, Sinclair strays from the musical path of creating creepy soundscapes for faux films such as Three Sisters (2015), Street Force (2016), and Murdercoaster (2022). Break the Faith is more of a pop-infused dark dance album, and we’re thrilled to have him answer our most burning questions.
Break The Faith is described as music for “a rave in the ruins.” Can you elaborate on what you envisioned for this concept album?
The concept, as it is, for this one, is the age-old story of purity succumbing to temptation – young souls being led astray to the wicked jig of the demons. You know, the devil has the best tunes and all that. Matt Self Barnes‘ classy artwork and Tom McDowell‘s ideas really helped bring that concept together as a cool package.
The album is a departure from your previous efforts in the imagined soundtrack genre. What made you decide to branch out in this direction?
It’s good to mix things up! Tom at Library of the Occult had suggested I do an EP of my more uptempo tracks. I started working on that, and before long, it had morphed into a full-length album. Some of these tracks were part of my last run of live sets. I’ve always aimed to give things a bit more of a groove when I’m playing to a crowd, so I guess tapping into that has helped make this one a bit more danceable!
In previous albums, you’ve looked to horror composers such as Fabio Frizzi and John Carpenter as inspiration or launching-off points to move in your own unique direction, as on 2015’s Three Sisters. What were some of your inspirations here?
I love working on imagined soundtracks, but that’s been my focus for a long time, so it’s been good to allow my other influences to bleed through more on this LP. I’ve always been a big EBM/Industrial fan, particularly the harder-edged moments by the likes of Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, etc., so that’s definitely inspired certain tracks. My other albums have always had a few pieces that dabble in Italo disco and the more beat-driven library music stuff. I guess I’ve leaned into that more here.
Some cues like the title track and “The Trill” incorporate spoken word elements that are distorted to the point where they’re nearly inaudible. Are these self-generated or taken from other sources?
[Laughs] That would be telling! Let’s just say I might have gathered clips from my hours spent watching poor-quality rips of old documentaries about the occult. Tons of weird chat and noises to be found on those. I spent a long time making noise/drone music back in the day, so I always like adding subtle and not-so-subtle layers of dirt/electronic chaos wherever possible. It’s the little squawks and blarps that make the track sometimes.
The songs are all anchored in danceable beats, but I’m curious how you assembled the tracks while keeping a wide palette of samples and textures. Do you have a favourite cut on the album?
My personal favourite is probably “Truth or Dare.” That one was a really organic process to make, and I feel it marries my grungier, bargain-basement horror synths with a good zombie-paced thumping beat. I just rigged up a bunch of gear and jammed out the basic track freehand, without much in the way of planning. I then had a bit of fun adding some samples, wonky freestyled synthlines and squiggles from my Lyra 8. It’s got a slightly off-tempo shuffle that I like, and making it helped me back to the old school way of doing things rather than focusing on over-quantised control freak programming!
Having taken a stylistic detour with Break The Faith, what’s next? A return to your imagined soundtracks? Or are you heading into uncharted musical territory?
It’s back to the dank streets of New York for the next one – more Maniac worship! It’s very much firmly in the imagined soundtrack realm, so I think you guys will dig it. Other than that, I’ve just finished a very giallo-style collaboration track with one of my long-standing buds in the horror synth community, I’ve contributed some electronics/sound design stuff to a cool death metal LP, there’s a few remixes on the way, other side projects on the brew … and I just might pull my finger out to get some gigs on the go. 2025 was a “resting in the crypt” year; 2026 and beyond look a bit more lively!
