The first song I ever heard from Interpol was “Evil,” which grew to be immensely popular with over 106 million listens on Spotify and reaching No. 24 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. Despite their bass barely ever changing key, I can never resist listening to their unique and ambiguous lyrics or moody guitar. 

Off of their third studio album, Our Love to Admire, Interpol experiments with horns, strings, and even an oboe. Sure, this song doesn’t explicitly scream Halloween, yet there’s a certain eeriness I feel due to the repeated, airy guitar distortion throughout the song as if I’m walking into a creepy bar run by skeletons and zombies alike. The collection of guitar, melancholy horns and almost intruding piano work together to escalate into a hauntingly beautiful combination of something I would hear out of Danny Elfman’s soundtrack for Edward Scissorhands.

The repetition of the descending rhythm, with slightly different changes in pitch and a growing cacophony of instruments, eventually falls after a buildup of leading tremolo guitar. Paul Bank’s vocals are all you can hear for a moment until the main theme is heard, and it becomes a comfort in the indulging chaos. 

If you were just looking at the lyrics, it almost plays out like a love song. 

“You fly straight into my heart,”

Or one anticipating a breakup, which is scary enough for some to make it feel like Halloween. 

‘But here comes the falls /

So much of dreams deceit, I’m not prepared to know.”

Regardless of if you love the spooky holiday, give this song a listen while you soak up the beauty of the colorful fall leaves, and experience the haunting orchestral music of Interpol.