In about two weeks, Sufjan Stevens and his Asthmatic Kitty signee Angelo De Augustine will release their collaborative album A Beginner’s Mind. It finds Sufjan in quivering singer-songwriter mode alongside fellow acoustic folkie De Augustine following last year’s dark electronic turn with The Ascension. Every song on the album is inspired by a different movie, and they’ve been releasing them in pairs. Today we get two more.

“Cimmerian Shade” is inspired by The Silence Of The Lambs and sung from the perspective of serial killer Buffalo Bill. It’s a glimmering, grandiose sort of ballad, and it builds toward the unexpected refrain, “I just want you to love me.” De Augustine explains:

Many authors have emotional attachments to the characters they create. But in this instance, I was interested in how a character felt about being created. In my imagination I was giving consciousness to someone else’s creation. The song is essentially a dialogue between creation and creator that seeks to find understanding to some of the same questions that we ask ourselves about existence, free will, fate, purpose, guidance and if anyone or anything out there is listening or cares.

A similar breathy, ethereal, post-Carrie & Lowell vibe courses through “You Give Death A Bad Name,” inspired by Night Of The Living Dead. Check out both songs below.

A Beginner’s Mind is out 9/24 on Asthmatic Kitty.