John Medeski has announced The Curse (Music From the Showtime Original Series), which is out November 17 via Milan Records. The 52-song soundtrack to the new show from Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder, which co-stars Fielder and Emma Stone, was executive produced by regular Safdie collaborator Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never). The new release features the opening track and lead single “Fake Tears.” Give it a listen below.

Lopatin was asked by Safdie to find someone to score the show who could do it in the spirit of Alice Coltrane’s Turiya Sings. “There was a very short list of composers I felt were akin, or could carry on some level, Alice’s skill and soulfulness with them into their own score,” Lopatin said in a statement. “John was one of them. John breathes presence into music. His ability to improvise and speak through his instrument, and specifically the organ—is part of his greatness. His transcendent understanding of spacious, open music, combined with a virtuosic attack of the keyboard in the fields of jazz and blues, not to mention his twisted sense of humor, felt exactly right for the series.”

John Medeski added:

There was this idea that the music of Alice’s—this spiritual music—has a quality that’s neither happy nor sad. It’s both. It’s deep, contemplative music. Instead of the music defining what’s happening, it’s opening up possibilities. I love that because that’s what music is for me. It’s a language that expresses something between idea and emotion that only music can express. The music is almost like another dimension or another perspective. A lot of films are designed to make you feel something about what’s going on in the scene, to represent the scene, to create the emotional impact of the scene. And Nathan and Benny wanted the series to be very dialogue driven and story driven, and to have the music actually be like another observer providing a perspective. They didn’t want any music to be too obvious. Sometimes the music is misleading to what’s going on in the scene even, and I loved that. The music has this other dimension that provides atmosphere. It isn’t just programmatic, it’s another character.

Song titles from the soundtrack include “Tomato Pee Pee,” “Bone Dread,” and “We Do This All the Time.” The first episode of The Curse streams today on Paramount+ with Showtime and it will make its on-air debut on Showtime on Sunday, November 12, at 10 p.m. Eastern.

Revisit “Uncut Gems Directors Josh and Benny Safdie on Their Favorite Music Videos Ever” on the Pitch.

The Curse (Music From the Showtime Original Series):

01 Fake Tears (From “The Curse” Soundtrack)
02 Bad Interview
03 Asher Approaches
04 Tiny
05 Tomato Pee Pee
06 Shelter
07 Lies
08 Pregnant
09 Parking Lot
10 Casino
11 Nefarious Light
12 The Curse
13 Happy News
14 Dougie Walks
15 Subterfuge
16 Stealing Files
17 Smoke House
18 Performance Art
19 Art Talk
20 Ultrasound
21 Classroom
22 Back Door
23 About a House
24 Dougie Digs
25 Whitney Walks
26 Scorpion
27 Steal the Stove
28 Ashram
29 She’s a Lot
30 Pretend Buyers
31 Utopian World
32 Green Queen
33 Security Footage
34 Delivery
35 Neck Crack
36 Bone Dread
37 Nala Struggles
38 Whitney’s Statue
39 Asher Makeup
40 Whitney and Cara
41 Fernando
42 On Camera
43 Talking Shit
44 Whitney Cries
45 Asher Jeans
46 Apartment Complex
47 Whitney Cries Again
48 House Reveal
49 Asher’s Dilemma
50 Floating Hands
51 We Do This All the Time
52 The End