Halloween is here, and Danny Elfman is celebrating one of his favorites holidays with a brand new song, “Monkeys on the Loose.”
With a manic groove, flurries of chanting voices, and an overall threatening vibe, “Monkeys on the Loose” follows a spooky tale of monkeys unleashing and “breaking everything they can get their little hands on.” Part Planet of the Apes and part macabre Tim Burton nightmare, Elfman even pays a bit of reverence towards the creatures: “They create the world then they oughta get their own damn song,” he barks in the chorus. Stream “Monkeys on the Loose” below.
“Halloween has obviously been a huge part of my life, and I’d been working on a big batch of new songs for my upcoming album,” Elfman said about the song in a statement. “Nick [Launay] had taken on the task of trying some arrangement/production ideas on this crazy song ‘Monkeys on the Loose’, and while working on it, we thought… wouldn’t it be wild to work up a version for a special Halloween release (even though it was barely over a week away!). We decided to just jump in and go for it and the band was rehearsing it already for the upcoming shows. They were more than game to record it. So… here it is!”
The new track arrives just before Elfman returns to the stage for his final two North American shows of the year — “Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond” — which go down at the Hollywood Bowl on November 2nd and Mountain View, California’s Shoreline Amphitheater on November 3rd. Get tickets here.
Meanwhile, Elfman is also celebrating another successful collaboration with Tim Burton after scoring Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which arrived in theaters last month.
If you’re looking to keep the Halloween spirit thriving, check out our list of the 20 best family-friendly Halloween movies to watch.
