Makeup and Vanity Set has been busy lately providing the score for the latest seasons of the podcasts Up and Vanished and Monster, as well as multiple subscriber exclusive releases to his Bandcamp fans. Somehow, on top of all that, he has released the original soundtrack to the short film Mather.
The film is unique as it was created by a deaf director, using a deaf crew, a largely deaf cast and largely contains a lack of dialogue. Makeup and Vanity Set provides some insight as to how the director was able to review the music and iterate on it:
“chase would explain that he could ‘listen’ to my music by feeling it physically. i spent time studying two incredible Deaf musicians, evelyn glennie and christine sun kim. i also spent time studying methods like demonstrating rhythm and music through ASL (American Sign Language), how words can be similar but are defined and distinguished by handshape, location, movement, orientation and facial expression; that so much information is contained in simple hand motions and movements and that together they form intense and emotional contexts.
the result was a score written with basic sources- with sine waves and human voices and strings. chase’s work is deeply personal…”
The work itself invokes some of the same ominous feelings that MAVS has perfected over the years but the style of execution is completely different. Songs are slower, drawn out and creating suspense through the ambience. It’s not entirely different for him but it’s close. All and all, it’s a sign that MAVS is willing to stretch and explore his sound, which results in both an enjoyable score and an alluring promise for future releases.