Dead Man’s Bones is the result of a peculiar project between actor Ryan Gosling and his friend Zach Shields.  The album, Never Let a Lack of Talent Get You Down, features them working with the Silverlake Conservatory of Music’s Children’s Choir on a macabre collection of tracks on death and what comes afterward.  

Album opener “Dead Hearts” is the chilling result of what might happen if the members of Sigur Ros watched more horror films.  Ghostly moans soar over a slowly building crescendo, complete with a heartbeat that grows faster along with the music, and then fades softer when the music lulls, and then a freaky ending with creaking floorboards that shouldn’t be listened to late at night alone.

“In the Room Where You Sleep” picks things up a bit, with an electric organ that could have been played by Lurch himself.  There is some low dark talk interspersed with the music, and its attempts at sounding sinister do actually work.  It’s good creepy fun.  

“Buried in Water” opens with an echoing piano interlude with the children’s choir at full voice.  Gosling’s voice then takes over, and though no one will be blown away by its power, he holds his own and his tremolo-laden style fits the vibe of the album quite well.  

The choir and Gosling take their turns, and the combination is powerful.

“My Body’s a Zombie For You” is more fun than it might sound.  The kids are into this one, shouting out the chorus.  Gosling nails his lines like a love-struck Dracula, and the song turns into a zombie love jamboree of grand scale.

“Pa Pa Power” brings some more precise percussion to the album, pulsing ahead with purpose.  This one feels like more straightforward indie electro rock, until the choir swings in and lifts things up a level or two.  Many of the songs on the album close with a new melody that deviates from the body of the song, and “Power” features a soloist closing things out.

“Young & Tragic” is a slow simmer, with creepy chatter from a little kid in the background and a strange combination of electric and analogue instruments as the kids lament the title line a few times.  

“Paper Ships” opens with an a capella doo-wop with Gosling and Shields.  The choir flits in for the chorus, and back out again.  I pictured a skeleton barbershop quartet snapping this one out at the graveyard. A theremin even makes an appearance!  A neat little tune.

“Lose Your Soul” is a darker mood altogether.  Driving hand claps lead into Gosling back in Orbison-meets-Vincent Price mode.  There’s even the sound of the kids talking backward hidden far in the background.  It’s as close as Bones gets to dance music, and then the choir breaks things down for a slow-down bridge.  

Thin piano plinking opens, and is followed by the lyric “You’d look nice in the grave” in “Werewolf Head”.  There’s some admirable production here, and you can tell Gosling and Shields have put some work in.  Subtle pitch shifts in a warbling string background, and some dense layering of creepy Werewolf howls add to the admirable atmosphere of the track.

The title track is a barroom howler that begs us to be aware of the “rows, and rows, and rows” of bones beneath our feet.  A woman sobs, a ghostly howl trembles, and Gosling snaps his fingers while singing about bones.  

“Flowers Grow Out of My Grave” opens with a spoken word delivery of a dream sequence of strange creepiness.  The kids chorus kicks in with the harrowing tribute - “when I think about you, flowers grow out of my grave.”  This album is at its best at the moments when it achieves an odd combination of beauty and topics that at first might be off-putting.  This song is one of those moments.

This isn’t a celebrity throw-away project.  Bones is worth a listen, and provides some authentic and heartfelt material.  In the hyper-specialized and incestuous music scene of 2009 and beyond, it is increasingly difficult to find work that is truly unique.  For all its flaws and strangeness, this record is one of a kind.