Lugh - Erangal OST (2021)

Erangal is an experimental horror film directed by Kevin Brennan and scored by Lugh O’Neill. Constructed in a part documentary, part scripted format the film is fractured and episodic, unfolding in frantic fever dreams; creating distorted renderings of time, place and character.

The multiple scenes and vignettes in the film are connected through the traversal of a red hooded avatar, who progresses across various landscapes, observing the environmental and moral decay of the world of Erangal.

Through the transposition of actions seen in video games to physical bodies, Erangal grapples with the idea of virtual violence as a form of expression and identity whilst scrutinising the predominantly male ‘gamer-bro’ archetype synonymous with these online cultures.

Lugh’s ever-present score invests and heightens the film’s emotional tone, moving between a sense of foreboding and suspense in ‘Taut’ and ‘Forest Lure’ eventually reaching a frenetic crescendo in ‘Lost Boys' and ‘Moan Jiro’.

The collaboration between Kevin and Lugh took place as a continuous feedback loop. While Kevin envisioned and created new scenes Lugh produced new pieces, each informing the other — the soundtrack and the film were crafted as two separate entities in constant cross pollination.

As part of the conception of the Erangal OST, Lugh reworked ‘Moan Jiro’ from his previous release Helico, which featured Olan Monk — C.A.N.V.A.S. co-founder alongside Lugh — whose instrumental intervention provides the brawny, bruising anthem for the brutal and grimey antics of the hyper masculine, lakeside dwelling lost boys of Erangal. Marie Requa Gailey, who also features on Lugh’s previous release Re Munus, contributes eerie multi-layered vocals for ‘Forest Lure’, characteristic of the omni present tension and unease felt throughout much of the film.

The Erangal OST, released by C.A.N.V.A.S., builds stylistically upon Lugh’s previous release on the label, the queasy, frantic and exhilarating Re Munus LP released in 2020, while introducing air for the creation of a deeply contemplative environment and to make space for an aesthetic alliance with Kevin Brennan’s approach.

Lugh’s composition process amounted to the creation of an album — separate tracks, the combination of which became the sonic embodiment of Erangal. Those compositions now live within the film, interwoven into its various scenes and worlds, and simultaneously as an original soundtrack album in vinyl LP format — as a limited vinyl edition, with graphic and product design by Zuzana Pabisova — and digital format, offering an auditory depiction of Erangal and of Kevin and Lugh’s joint effort and collaborative process.