Jesse Ruins’ Nobuyuki Sakuma Makes Soundtrack To Isabelle: Isabelle X

I have never seen the film Isabelle, and am not even sure if this is the film Nobuyuki Sakuma is referring to with his Isabelle X project. Here’s a trailer…seems like it could be! Sakuma has gone and created an “imaginary soundtrack” to the film, and even at 22 minutes it is a disorienting listen. Over the course of Isabelle X, Sakuma weaves in what sounds like an interview between two people (possibly a reporter and Sophia Coppola?)…except they are often very distorted, and at times sound inhuman. These sounds pop up all the time, often over music that would otherwise sound straightforward, but takes on a menacing vibe. Alongside the voices, the music here alternates between chugging, menacing passages of minimal electronic sounds to more relaxed stretches all the way to some euphoric moments, like the one ending the soundtrack (albeit it is disrupted by those warped voices and other sudden sounds). Not sure how it works as an actual soundtrack, but it’s a good listen, especially if you like the similar atmosphere conjured by Jesse Ruins’ music. Listen here, or below.