Dan Deacon’s score for Rat Film, the new experimental documentary about Baltimore’s rat population from director Theo Anthony, is unlike any of his other albums. Inspired by 20th-century classical hero Philip Glass along with recent film scores like Mica Levi’s Under The Skin and Mark Korven’s The Witch, Deacon composed the music with some help from the rats themselves, scurrying around an enclosure surrounded by theremins and generating data to control a player piano. (See the film’s fascinating “making of” video here.) “Redlining,” the LP’s opening track, begins as a sparse piano meditation before transitioning into a warm mist of calmingly serene synth pads. Listen to it below, accompanied by visuals inspired by the Google Maps flyover passages in the film.

Here’s a mini-documentary about the making of the film:

Tour dates:

10/07 Edmonton, AB @ Up + Downtown Music Festival
10/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon (Rat Film Soundtrack Release Party – Dan Deacon DJ Set)
10/21 Petaluma, CA @ Lagunitas Beer Circus
11/04 Pomona, CA @ Lagunitas Beer Circus
11/09 Providence, RI @ AS220
11/10 Somerville, MA @ Hassle Fest 9
11/11 Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts
11/12 Portland, ME @ SPACE Gallery
12/27-30 Reykjavik, IS @ Nordur og nidur

The Rat Film original soundtrack is out 10/13 on Domino Soundtracks. Pre-order it here.