Remember how spooked Ethel Cain fans were when they first heard Perverts, her dark ambient album from 2025 that followed Preacher’s Daughter? It seems director Robert Eggers appreciated that atmospheric left turn from the singer-songwriter, because he’s tapped her and his former collaborator Robin Carolan to soundtrack Werwulf, his new gothic-folk horror film due out Christmas Day. The full soundtrack is out digitally December 18, with a vinyl release to follow on January 29 via Sacred Bones, but you can listen to Carolan’s title track contribution right now.
Directed by Eggers and co-written with Sjón, Werwulf puts a new spin on the classic werewolf tale, in which a 14th-century English town is haunted by a beast who threatens the safety of a man and his family. It stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, and Lily-Rose Depp. Carolan wrote the bulk of the movie’s soundtrack, with Cain partnering together for the song “Wynter Waxeth.”
Describing the joint songwriting process, Carolan said: “I’d send [Cain] medieval music, prayers, weird ambient stuff, and we’d talk through it all. It was one of those rare collaborations where we just seemed to be on the same page about everything. Initially we’d talked about her contributing vocals to the score in a more textural way, but it wasn’t long until we started discussing a full blown song. Her talent and open mindedness to try different things is honestly incredible. She sang the song in Middle English, and with Rob’s help she mastered the pronunciation on the hop, practically in one session. She brought so much earthy, feral, haunted beauty to the score, and it’s hard to imagine it without her presence.”
Cain’s most recent album, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, came out in 2025. Meanwhile, Carolan has been steadily scoring movies for Eggers, including his 2022 viking epic The Northman and his 2024 silent horror film Nosferatu.
Revisit Madison Bloom’s interview with Carolan in How The Northman’s Composers Dreamed Up a Different Kind of Viking Movie Score.
Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly referred to Robin Carolan as Robert Carolan. It has since been updated.
