Six-time Emmy-winning composer Bear McCreary is merging guitars and orchestra on his new solo album, and he’s got help from Slash, Tim Henson, Guthrie Govan, and Steve Vai.
McCreary has scored some huge films, including Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Cloverfield Paradox, and Paws of Fury, and, having enlisted Serj Tankian for his 2024 hard rock record, The Singularity, he’s going bigger and bolder with its follow-up, The Singularity: Ekleipsis.
A concept record that picks up where its predecessor left off, it explores themes of disillusionment and perseverance in the face of struggle. Cool Kids, its lead single, pairs Guns N’ Roses stalwarts Slash and Duff McKagan with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and his vocalist brother, Brendan McCreary.
“Cool Kids was born when Duff McKagan sent me a voice memo of a riff he was messing around with,” McCreary details. “My ears perked up instantly – his riff was undeniable! So Duff and I went into the studio the next week with my brother, vocalist Brendan McCreary, and Chad Smith to write the song together.
“When Slash got back into town, he added his signature screaming guitar parts, and there it was,” he adds. “It’s a song about all of us being proudly who we are, but I wouldn’t blame anybody for assuming the title was inspired by the fact that Brendan and I got to create this song with the coolest kids in rock and roll.”
Slash’s scorching blues rock licks are instantly recognizable, with a warm tone that plays off McCreary’s lush orchestrations for an effective double act.
Equally, Black Box, which has dropped simultaneously, hinges on grinding guitars straight out of the Duplantier playbook on a song with a heavy, anthemic edge.
Elsewhere on the tracklist, Steve Vai and Tim Henson double up on the track Blueshift, with Henson also tag teaming with Coheed & Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez on Sweet Misery.
Guthrie Govan (Alexandria), Gojira’s ESP artist Joe Duplantier (Black Box), and Alissa White-Gluz (Our Kingdom) – the latter of whom is fresh from launching her shred-laden new band, Blue Medusa, and joining DragonForce – also feature. It’s quite the lineup.
McCreary will take the album on the road, with dates in the UK and Europe in July and August, before hitting the US and Canada in September.
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