Danny Elfman | Ghostemane Remix of ‘Native Intelligence (feat. Trent Reznor)’ – ‘Bigger. Messier.’ Remix Album out 12th August

Ghostemane and Danny Elfman (Photo Credit: Sam Hellmann)

Today, Danny Elfman has teamed up with Ghostemane to release a brand new remix of ‘Native Intelligence (Featuring Trent Reznor)’ – the newest taste of Elfman’s forthcoming album ‘Bigger. Messier.‘ arriving on 12th August 2022 via ANTI- / Epitaph Records. The remix serves as a reimagining of Reznor’s version of the song that debuted earlier this year, making for a molotov cocktail that combines the one-of-a-kind styles of three musical heavyweights. Alongside the song, Elfman has also shared an official music video today. Produced by the cyber collective TRASH GANG, the video is a rabbit hole of monochromatic, manga-inspired animation that channels the track’s mesmerizing electronic glitches and breakneck percussion.

Ghostemane’s reinterpretation marks the eighth and latest track to be released from ‘Bigger. Messier.’ – Elfman’s brand new genre-defying album of remixed and re-envisioned renditions of songs from his acclaimed 2021 record Big Mess. Comprised of collaborations and guest vocal features from a wide array of artists including Trent Reznor, Iggy Pop, HEALTH, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Zach Hill of Death Grips, Xiu Xiu, Squarepusher, Ghostemane and many more, the 21-track project brings the songs of Big Mess to life in a completely new light while serving as the first time Elfman has ever released a remix collection of his work on this scale.

Elfman officially announced the project last month in tandem with the debut of a new version of ‘Kick Me‘ reimagined by punk legend Iggy Pop. The frenetic single was preceded by a string of dynamic songs that have previously been teased from the album to date, including Elfman’s momentous collaborations with Trent Reznor for ‘True‘ and ‘Native Intelligence‘, as well as additional remixes from Kid606 (‘Sorry‘), Zach Hill of Death Grips (‘Kick Me‘), Squarepusher (‘We Belong‘) and Xiu Xiu (‘Serious Ground‘).

With the help of his collaborators Stu Brooks & Berit Gwendolyn Gilma, Elfman enlisted a variety of artists he admires to contribute to Bigger. Messier. Using his original songs as their canvases, each artist was given free reign to experiment in their own distinct voice, making for a wholly unique collection of songs that span decades and genres. The album was executive produced by Stu Brooks and Elfman’s longtime manager Laura Engel. Available in vinyl, CD and digital formats, with two exclusive bonus tracks featured on the digital edition, pre-order the album now HERE and see below for complete track-listing information.

Having architected one of music’s most prolific and eclectic careers, ‘Bigger. Messier.’ finds Elfman delivering the unexpected yet again and building upon a monstrous year that’s already proven to be a showcase of his unparalleled versatility as an artist. The album boasts a radically diverse range of styles, with a tracklist that leaps between experimental electronic music, blitzing industrial rock, dark wave pop and beyond.

‘Bigger. Messier.’ channels the thrilling unpredictability that has pulsed through all of Elfman’s projects to date, from his early days with the theatrical Mystic Knights to the rock band Oingo Boingo, to his prolific work scoring over 100 films & television series including Marvel’s new blockbuster Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, his symphonic classical Violin, Cello and Percussion concertos, and even his recent internet-shattering performances at both weekends of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2022. Titled Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond!, the heralded sets saw him perform tracks from Big Mess live for the first time ever along with retooled Oingo Boingo songs, which he has not performed since their 1995 farewell tour, as well as other music spanning his entire career. The performances drew accolades across the board and went down as one of the festival’s most talked-about appearances:

“One of the most delightfully strange sets in Coachella history” – Rolling Stone

“Danny Elfman’s set at Coachella on Saturday might very well go down in history as one of the festival’s all-time defining moments.” – Consequence    “Nobody else even came close to bringing that level of chaotic pageantry to Coachella.” – Vulture

“The most badass moment of 2022 so far” – Louder Sound  

“A powerful set” – Variety

“Extremely memorable” – Stereogum

Officially unleashed in June 2021, the original ‘Big Mess’ album clocks in at 18 tracks and finds the 4x Oscar-nominated, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning composer breaking bold new ground as both a songwriter and a performer. Joined on the album by drummer Josh Freese (Devo, Weezer, The Vandals), bassist Stu Brooks (Dub Trio, Lady Gaga, Lauryn Hill), and guitarists Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses) and Nili Brosh (Tony MacAlpine, Paul Gilbert), the project has garnered widespread praise since its release including the LA Times, who called it “a fiercely political work filled with bombastic peaks and strikingly meditative valleys.”