Danny Elfman has seen incredible success both as an art-rock musician with Oingo Boingo as well as his expansive Oscar-nominated career scoring films and performing on soundtracks. It’s pretty incredible that it’s been 37 years since his last release, his lone solo album So-Lo. That album is often considered an Oingo Boingo album because the session musicians on the record were mostly members of that band that Elfman fronted. In many ways Elfman’s new album, Big Mess is his first true solo album, and it came in such a way that surprised even its creator.

“This wasn’t a record I ever planned on making,” said Elfman. “At times, I had no idea where the music was even coming from. It was all unexpected. But I decided not to resist it either.”

Big Mess, an 18-track double album that will be released on June 11, 2021 via Anti-, the label he signed with in 2020. He’s also released a new video for “True,” a technicolor nightmarescape that shows the abrasive, piss and vinegar-soaked approach of his most recent singles. There’s that penchant for experimentation that Elfman’s always been known for but it’s cloaked in a dark, industrial sheen.

Big Mess track list

1. “Sorry”
2. “True”
3. “In Time”
4. “Everybody Loves You”
5. “Dance With The Lemurs”
6. “Serious Ground”
7. “Choose Your Side”
8. “We Belong”
9. “Happy”
10. “Just A Human”
11. “Devil Take Away”
12. “Love In The Time Of Covid”
13. “Native Intelligence”
14. “Better Times”
15. “Cruel Compensation”
16. “Kick Me”
17. “Get Over It”
18. “Insects”