''Big Mess'' is the second solo studio album by American singer, musician, and composer

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...

. It was released by Anti- and

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

on June 11, 2021. The album is Elfman's first studio album outside of his film and classical compositions since the 1994 album '' Boingo'' with his former band

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ye ...

, and his first solo pop release since the 1984 album ''

So-Lo ''So-Lo'' is the debut studio album by American musician Danny Elfman, released in 1984 by MCA Records. Recorded primarily by Elfman, but also featuring the members of his band, Oingo Boingo, it was recorded when Elfman was offered a solo contrac ...

''. Although ''Big Mess'' features former members of Oingo Boingo, such as Steve Bartek,

Warren Fitzgerald Warren Fitzgerald (born September 15, 1968) is an American punk rock guitarist, songwriter, and record label owner. He is best known for being the guitarist of The Vandals and Oingo Boingo. He is also co-founder of Kung Fu Records, along with ...

, and

Marc Mann Marc Mann is an American keyboardist, guitarist, programmer, arranger and conductor. He has a Master's Degree in Music from UCLA. Mann is known for his work with Oingo Boingo, Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra. Mann is credited as perf ...

, it is not an Oingo Boingo collaboration in the vein of ''So-Lo''. Elfman had initially written two songs, "Sorry" and " Happy"—his first non-commissioned songs since Oingo Boingo disbanded—that were intended to debut at the

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in 2020. The show was also planned to feature a number of reworked versions of Elfman's film score compositions and Oingo Boingo songs, but was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. A complete album was then written, unplanned, with Elfman stating that once he started, he "couldn't stop", ultimately recording a total of 18 songs. The album was teased with a series of singles, beginning with "Happy" in October 2020, and continuing on from January 2021, with releases on the 11th date of each month. The album comprises two "heavily contrasting" halves and ends with a new version of the Oingo Boingo song "Insects", from the 1982 album '' Nothing to Fear''. In December 2021, Anti- and

announced an upcoming deluxe box set which includes four colored vinyl LPs, a 60-page artbook, a life-sized hand of Elfman's as a lamp and a signed poster. Two of the records contain remixes and vocals from musicians such as

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

, Blixa Bargeld, Rebekah del Rio, Fever333,

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and Machine Girl. These remixes would, over time, be made more widely available with the release of the remix album ''Bigger. Messier.'' and its "Deluxe" edition in 2022.

Track listing

All songs written by Danny Elfman.

Disc one

Disc two

Personnel

Musicians *

– vocals, guitar and synthesizers * Josh Freese – drums * Stu Brooks – bass guitar *

Robin Finck Robert John "Robin" Finck (born November 7, 1971) is an American guitarist. Finck is the longest-serving touring musician for Nine Inch Nails, performing with the band from 1994 to 2000, and returning in 2008. With Nine Inch Nails, Finck contribu ...

– guitar *

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– guitar *

– guitar * Sidney Hopson – percussion * Joe Martone – percussion Additional musicians *

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– female vocal solo * Holly Sedillos – female chorister * Anna Schubert – female chorister * Danielle Withers – female chorister * Lyris Quartet – strings * Budapest Art Orchestra – orchestra * Budapest Scoring Orchestra – orchestra ("Happy" and "Sorry") Technical * Danny Elfman – producer * Steve Bartek – string orchestration *

– orchestration assistant * Noah Snyder – engineer, mixing *

Zakk Cervini Zakk Cervini is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. He was born in Monroe, Connecticut on June 2, 1993. Cervini's work includes collaborations with Simple Plan, Limp Bizkit, Blink-182, All Time Low, Mach ...

– mixing *

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– mixing * Pete Rutcho – mixing *

Randall Dunn Randall Dunn is an American record producer, audio engineer, and musician. As a record producer, he has worked with musical acts such as Sunn O))), Six Organs of Admittance, Marissa Nadler, Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Anna Von Haussw ...

– mixing * Nik Trekov – mixing assistant * Francisco Botero – mixing assistant * Ben Greenberg – mixing assistant * Garrett de Block – mixing assistant * Nick Rives – additional engineering * Matt Tuggle – additional engineering *

Joe LaPorta Joseph J. LaPorta (born ) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey.http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-laporta-mn000199340/credits/date-asc/ Career Born and raised in New York, LaPorta graduated from New York Unive ...

– mastering * Berit Gwendolyn Gilma – creative/art director

Bigger. Messier.

Both before and after the release of the album, remixes of most of its singles, as well as "We Belong" would be released as promotional standalone singles. Ahead of the release of the album, on April 1, a remix of "Kick Me" by

Zach Hill Zachary Charles Hill (born December 28, 1979) is an American multi-instrumentalist and visual artist. He is best known as the drummer and co-producer of the groups Death Grips and the I.L.Y's, and as the drummer of math rock band Hella. Art In ...

, drummer of experimental rap group

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, was released. After the release, five more remixes were released as singles: * "True", featuring

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

, released on August 11 * "We Belong", remixed by

, released on September 10 * "Serious Ground", remixed by

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, released on October 12 * "Sorry", remixed by

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, released on November 30 * "Native Intelligence", also featuring Reznor, released on March 21, 2022 On December 8, these remixes, alongside others, were announced to feature in a deluxe box set of the album. A standalone release was not announced at this time. On June 29, 2022, the remix album ''Bigger. Messier.'' was announced for release on August 12. The album would feature most of the remixes contained in the "Deluxe" box set, alongside new ones. In promotion of the announcement, a new remix of "Kick Me" featuring a spoken-word performance by

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was released. The album was later expanded with a deluxe edition (stylized as ''Bigger. Messier. (Deluxe.)'') released to music streaming services on . This edition would add the remixes previously exclusive to the "Deluxe" box set of the original album, alongside one new track, a remix of "Sorry" by

Ghostemane Eric Whitney (born April 15, 1991), known professionally as Ghostemane or Eric Ghoste, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has released eight solo albums and three collaborative albums under his Ghostemane moniker, primarily mer ...

Track listing

References

{{authority control 2021 albums Danny Elfman albums Anti- (record label) albums Albums impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic