The Visitor Original Soundtrack - Released on Spotlight Records, September 2024

Spotlight Records is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of the original soundtrack for Bruce LaBruce’s provocative new film, The Visitor. Composed by the acclaimed UK-based DJ and producer Hannah Holland, the soundtrack presents an eclectic mix of cerebral soundscapes and pulsating dance floor anthems, a defiantly bold score for a truly provocative narrative. The soundtrack will be available as a deluxe limited edition double vinyl package, as well as digitally, on September 20, 2024.

Directed by Bruce LaBruce and written alongside Alex Babonni and Victor Fraga, The Visitor sees the legendary filmmaker and photographer continue his decades-long creative journey with a transgressive reimagining of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 classic Teorema, set against the dystopian backdrop of a paranoid, xenophobic post-Brexit London. Washed ashore from the sea in a suitcase, a mysterious refugee disrupts the lives of a privileged white family, leading them through a series of explicit and transformative encounters. The film, which features performance artist Bishop Black amid a series of explicit, hardcore sex scenes, premiered at the 2024 Berlinale Film Festival and is presented by A/POLITICAL.

With reverence and reference to Ennio Morricone’s iconic score for Teorema, Hannah Holland has crafted a soundtrack that both honors the original and brings a contemporary twist. The album features collaborations with a stellar lineup of artists from both the queer and electronic music underground, including Ghost Culture, Jonjo Jury, Josh Caffé, Joy Joseph, ROY INC, and Ziah Ziah.

Holland’s second-nature understanding of London’s underground scene pulsates from dancefloor to screen and back again, via the physicality and urgency of tracks such as ‘Animal’ feat. ROY INC. and ‘Tweak’, which finds Holland cultivating a primal, modern acid house alongside longtime collaborator Josh Caffé. Meanwhile, ‘She’s Giving Cray’ unleashes the atmosphere conjured during Holland’s residency at cult London club night Adonis, a snippet of vocalist Joy Joseph and escalating percussion erupting into waves of queer joy.

Holland’s instinct for collaboration also serves to widen The Visitor’s sonic palette. ‘Oilpella’, produced with London synth artist and vocalist Ziah Ziah provides a dreamy respite from the soundtrack’s more confronting moments, expanding on more tender vulnerabilities. Another friend and icon of the London scene, Jonjo Jury contributes to the ‘The Screamer’, a singular, sumptuous krautrock inspired jam, underpinned by a different groove entirely.

Embracing both the pleasures and challenges of queer life, The Visitor equally affirms Holland’s practise as an artist willing to transcend beyond the usual rhythms of hedonism. Bristling and unpredictable, ‘Lament’ recalls the brooding intensity of IDM labels such as Warp and Rephlex, while tracks such as ‘Maid’, ‘Father’s Feet’ and especially ‘Church Cruise’ speak to the film’s subversion reimagining of Catholicism’s symbology, as well as the soundtrack’s most cinematic grandeur, ascending beyond rave basements and far into the rafters.

Reflecting the practice of both Pasolini and Bruce Le Bruce, Holland’s soundtrack for The Visitor is unafraid to deviate from expectation. The shuffling waltz of ‘Mother’ is rich with sensual intrigue, ‘Glass Lin’ finds a motorik drive charged by sweat-drenched flesh, while ‘Levitation’ strips back Holland’s pulsing machines to unveil an elegant finale to this sonic journey, one as unforgettable as that of Bishop Black themselves.

Showcasing the versatility, knowledge and musical freedom of its creator, Hannah Holland’s score for The Visitor is a powerful and uncompromising accompaniment to a new landmark in queer, British cinema, manifesting a shared vision of curiosity, collaboration and abandon.