Artist Thumbnail
Danny Elfman
If Danny Elfman’s new album surprises you, just know that it surprised him, too. “This wasn’t a record I ever planned on making,” confesses 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.” Driven by primal forces seemingly beyond his control, Big Mess marks Elfman’s first solo collection in more than thirty years, but it’s no return to form. Clocking in at 18 tracks, the sprawling, ambitious double album finds the Grammy and Emmy Award-winning composer breaking bold new ground as both a writer and a performer, drawing on a dystopian palette of distorted electric guitars, industrial synthesizers and orchestra in an effort to exorcise the demons brought about by four years of creeping fascism and civil rot. The songs here call to mind everything from Nine Inch Nails, to David Bowie to XTC at times, balancing dense, harmonically complex arrangements with biting, acerbic wit as they reckon with the chaos and confusion of the modern world. Elfman wrote almost all of the record during quarantine, and while the anger, frustration, and isolation of it all is palpable in his delivery, Big Mess is about more than simply blowing off steam. In making the space to truly sit with his emotions and write without limitations, Elfman achieved a kind of artistic liberation on the record that had been eluding him for decades, rediscovering his voice and reinventing himself all at once in the process.
Songs See All
Albums See All
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2024
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Hellboy II (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [The Deluxe Edition]
2024
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Wednesday (Original Soundtrack from the Netflix Series)
2023
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The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra Plays The Music Of Danny Elfman
2022
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Wednesday (Original Series Soundtrack)
2022
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Bigger. Messier.
2022
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2022
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Big Mess
2021
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Edward Scissorhands (2005 London Stage Premiere Recording)
2020
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Dolittle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2020
Singles & EPs See All
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Monkeys on the Loose (Halloween Special)
Single • 2024
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They'll Just Love You (feat. Danny Elfman & Sextile)
Single • 2024
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They'll Just Love You (feat. Poppy & Danny Elfman)
Single • 2023
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Kick Me
Single • 2022
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Native Intelligence
Single • 2022
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True
Single • 2021
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Insects
Single • 2021
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True
Single • 2021
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Kick Me
Single • 2021
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Love In The Time of Covid
Single • 2021
Videos See All
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Justice League Official Soundtrack | Everybody Knows - Sigrid | WaterTower
Danny Elfman • 37M views
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What's This? (From "The Nightmare Before Christmas")
Danny Elfman • 3.2M views
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Monkeys on the Loose (Halloween Special)
Danny Elfman • 47K views
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The Milk Carton Kids - Snake Eyes
Danny Elfman • 438K views
Featured on
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Iconic Horror Movie Scores
Playlist • YouTube Music
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Epic Film Scores
Playlist • YouTube Music
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Disney Christmas
Playlist • YouTube Music
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Kids' Halloween
Playlist • YouTube Music
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Spooky Halloween Sound FX
Playlist • YouTube Music
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Symphony of the Night
Playlist • YouTube Music
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Cinematic Ambience
Playlist • YouTube Music
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Kids Christmas
Playlist • YouTube Music
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21st Century Disney
Playlist • YouTube Music
Artist-made playlists
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Danny Elfman Essentials | Bigger. Messier. Available Now
Playlist • Danny Elfman • 78K views
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Danny Elfman | Official Videos
Playlist • Danny Elfman • 7.7K views
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Danny Elfman | Live & Sessions
Playlist • Danny Elfman • 1.4K views
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