CARPENTER BRUT
The king of synthwave will deliver Leather Teeth’s follow-up this year
When synthwave took over the underground, there was unquestionably one name that broke biggest out of them all. Carpenter Brut didn’t just go viral with the amazing video for 2015 dance floor-smasher Turbo Killer; he also produced one of the funnest debut albums of recent memory with 2018’s neon-splattered LP, Leather Teeth. With both feet planted firmly in the 80s and designed as the first part of a multi-record concept following the journey of a serial killer in waiting, it inexplicably ticked the boxes of metal, horror and, um, cheesy, synthy dance music in one fell swoop.
Though Leather Teeth was envisioned as a soundtrack in its own right – albeit to a film that doesn’t technically exist – in 2020 Carpenter Brut went full soundtrack with the release of the Blood Machines OST, having scored the visually stunning (but bonkers) film of the same name, directed by Turbo Killer man Seth Ickerman. It was a nice stopgap for fans, but what really got people excited was the release of a surprise single, Fab Tool, in late November. Dramatic, gothic and featuring Wovenhand’s David Eugene Edwards on vocals, it was an atmospheric, otherworldly brooder.
And as for what happens next? Well, Fab Tool is intended as a standalone single, so perhaps don’t read into it too much for clues on the next album, but we do know that Leather Teeth has more killing to do before all is said and done, likely in the form of a whole new album. “Leather Terror is coming out next year”, Carpenter confirmed on Instagram in 2020. Leather Terror? Sounds like an upgrade…