After last year’s “Twilight” pic yielded a blockbuster soundtrack, there was no shortage of established and emerging acts eager to contribute tunes to the next installment, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
All the songs on the “New Moon” soundtrack, which hits music outlets Friday from Chop Shop/Atlantic, are previously unreleased and exclusive to the film. Album’s release date was moved up four days after film’s closely guarded music leaked onto the Web Monday.
Album, intensely anticipated by “Twilight” devotees a month before feature’s release, should prove to be a key component in pic’s opening, according to Atlantic Records g.m./exec VP Livia Tortella.
“Summit has a very scrappy marketing aesthetic,” Tortella said. “They know how to work with a record company.”
About half of the 15 acts on the album consulted with “New Moon” director Chris Weitz before penning their tunes, according to Chop Shop’s Alex Patsavas, who co-produced the soundtrack album with Paul Katz, head of Eye2Ear Music and Summit’s music liaison.
“A good number of the songs were the result of meeting Chris and spending time in the cutting room with the already edited movie,” Patsavas said.
Set features indie rock acts like Lykke Li, Bon Iver & St. Vincent, Sea Wolf and Grizzly Bear alongside better-known acts such as Muse (also heard on the first “Twilight” album), Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, OK Go and Death Cab for Cutie, who cut lead-off track “Meet Me on the Equinox.”
The soundtrack “appeals to a slightly older demographic, a more artistic demographic,” Tortella said.
Patsavas noted the tracks move away from the more hard-rocking feel of the first “Twilight” package to reflect the content of the pic itself.
” ‘New Moon’ has a more somber tone in many ways,” Patsavas said. “A quieter feel for the music seemed to make sense.”
Added Katz: “The music is cool, but it’s a manifestation of the film … It has a lot to do with Chris’ view of things, plus Alex, who is a maven of that (indie-rock) world.”
The first “Twilight” soundtrack has sold nearly 2.3 million copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. Nearly a year after release, it hovers at No. 77 on this week’s U.S. album chart.
The “New Moon” soundtrack was a top Twitter topic all week, especially Wednesday, when the “New Moon” album began a one-day streaming on pic’s MySpace page.
Goth-friendly mall merchandiser Hot Topic will host album release parties across the country at 7 tonight. A tour of soundtrack talent in conjunction with the retail chain is planned.
A major mass merchant will also get into the act: On Nov. 10, an exclusive “New Moon” CD/DVD package goes on sale at Target stores.
Die-hard wax fanatics can buy a 12-inch picture disc (exclusive to Hot Topic) and a deluxe vinyl edition, due in November.
Summit’s film sequel, based on the second entry in author Stephenie Meyer’s wildly popular series of novels, opens Nov. 20. Original “Twilight” pic grossed more than $380 million worldwide — $191 million domestic, $192 million foreign.
