There are plenty of famous examples of film
soundtrack artists improvising their score while screening the source
material for the first time, such as Neil Young’s angst-ridden coat of
reverb that pairs eerily well with Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man. Yet King
Khan took the opposite approach while penning what would become the
musical accompaniment to Prichard Smith’s new documentary spotlighting
the rise of the Memphis Black power group the Invaders during the civil
rights movement.
“The Mighty Hannibal taught me an amazing
lesson about blindness,” Khan shares, referring to the late R&B
legend. “[He] sent me a gospel song he wrote about how lucky he was to
have gone blind because he could never judge anyone based on what they
looked like—rather it was now by their actions. When he told this to me I
decided to do the entire soundtrack ‘blind.’ This meant I made the
music without seeing the images.”
The film’s soundtrack is slated
to be released August 18 via Ernest Jenning Recording Co. and
Khannibalism, with the first sample arriving today in the form of “John
B’s Lament”—referring to Invaders leader John B. Smith. It’s a crunchy
bit of guitar-focused improv that recalls the mischievous rock sounds of
the period the doc spotlights, while hewing close to much of the
garage-rock icon’s two decades of consistent output under various
guises.
Continuing on about the film itself, Khan adds: “The
Invaders film is not just a documentary, it’s a hardcore lesson to all
activists to put in the work and find out what every community needs,
addressing these individual needs and simply caring for the wounds that
rot when ignored. Before you wallow in self-pity and misery, take a deep
breath and learn to breathe. Just a simple act of inhalation and
exhalation is what brings us back to reality and calms our nerves and
prepares us for the task at hand.”
Tracklist:
1. John B's Lament
2. Hot Dog for Melvin
3. Hurtin Class (Dub)
4. J Edgar Hoovers Knickers
5. America Goddamn
6. Do You Wanna Ride
7. A Tree Not A Leaf Am I
8. Heart of Trash
9. Gone Are The Times (instro)
10. 400th Overture
11. A Man Don't Stand A Chance (pt1n2)
12. John C Invades
13. Memphis is Burning
14. Redemption at Last
15. Badalamemphis
16. Darkness (Instro)
17. Never Hold On (instro)
18. Children of the World