Anyone who has spent much time with Steve Albini's work as a musician knows he's more than capable of summoning bad karma when he feels like it, and filmmaker Travis Stevens felt it was high time he put that gift to good use by scoring a horror movie. Or at least that's what one might fairly presume led Stevens to approach Albini about scoring his 2019 film The Girl on the Third Floor, a particularly grim modern-day haunted house story. Whatever the reason, for the project Albini recruited cellist Alison Chesley (best known for her work as Helen Money) and bassist/baritone guitarist Tim Midyett (who has worked with Silkworm, Bottomless Pit, and Sunn O))), among others) to collaborate with him, and the 2020 album Music from the Film Girl on the Third Floor compiles the cues they wrote and recorded for the picture. A number of the pieces were composed by the trio before they had the opportunity to see any of the film, and they're minimalistic numbers, spare and with extensive use of dynamics and open space despite their song-informed structures, most notably the 18-minute "Irish," which includes contributions from folk musician Gaelynn Lea. The rest of the cues were written to accompany and counterpoint specific material in the film, and they often rely more on atonal drones and waves of sheer noise (such as "17 Arrow 43") or ominous silences (for example "Line 55").
Many film scores seem a bit vague or unfocused when divorced from the images they were meant to accompany, and that's true of Music from the Film Girl on the Third Floor to an extent. This music is powerfully atmospheric, and the pieces generate considerable tension and mood, yet this is about ambience and feel above all else, and anyone who expects this to be as explosive as the best work of the individual contributors may well be disappointed, or at least puzzled. However, Albini has said his goal was to create "creepy instrumental music," and you can't say he didn't succeed. The score generates an unnerving dread, suggesting something horrible could happen (or is happening) at any moment, and the small ensemble can create an impressive tower of noise and fury when they see fit. Music from the Film Girl on the Third Floor is best viewed as an experiment or creative detour for the artists involved; however, it's also strong and sometimes fascinating work, guiding the listener on a challenging journey through a sonic netherworld, and it certainly merits an opportunity to be experienced outside the context of Stevens' film.