Edward Carnby

"Edward Carnby" is a single by alternative-rock duo Dresden & Bareilles, and the third from their sophomore album "150 dB". The song was produced by DJ Double Garage, and was originally written for the "Fall From Grace" soundtrack re-release, but when that was cancelled the song was held over for the album. The single was a majorly-unexpected success for the band, earning them their first UK #1 hit against URAPS Idol 12 winner Regina Harper, whose winner's single was expected to top the chart. The single is Dresden & Bareilles' second single to be certified platinum. Internationally, the song was only mildly successful due to its relatively obscure references to the "Alone In The Dark" game series.

Background
Dresden & Bareilles were planning to re-release the soundtrack to their movie "Fall From Grace", to coincide with the DVD release of the movie in time for the Christmas rush. They were intending to add new material to the soundtrack, and "Edward Carnby" was written to be one of the new songs included on the new version. The band drew references to the "Alone In The Dark" series of games in the song's lyrics; mostly the references concerned the game "A New Nightmare" with mentions of the game's setting (Shadow Island) and the game's main form of ammunition (phosphorus and magnesium bullets). The title character, Edward Carnby, was the biggest reference made in the song, as he was what the song was named after. Working with DJ Double Garage, the band experimented with a more atmospheric and creepy sound, featuring many reversed sounds to create a gothic soundscape for the song to sit on top of. The song was intended as a single from the "Fall From Grace" soundtrack re-release, but plans were put on hold when the re-release was cancelled, and the single was re-visited following the release of "Prodigal Daughter". Originally, the song was scheduled for release on September 19th, 2011, but was brought forward two weeks to September 5th when the 19th became overpopulated. An edit of the song was promoted to radio due to its extended instrumental intro. The music video for the song does not feature the band; instead it is a 3D animated music video featuring the title character.

Reception
Gabriel expressed his concern that "Edward Carnby" was the least-commercially friendly of the band's singles from the era, after the departure in sound of "Prodigal Daughter", due to its obscure references to the "Alone In The Dark" game series. Internationally, this wasn't unfounded; in Australia the song received low levels of airplay and was not a strong seller, while in America the song did not get airplay beyond the band's core format and also was not a strong seller. The UK was far more receptive to the song however, at least as far as the singles market was concerned, as the song was a surprise #1 success. Radio was resistant to the song however, and while it eventually became a top 20 airplay hit with a decent accumulative spin total, its start was greatly stunted.

Promo CD

 * 1) Edward Carnby (Radio Edit)
 * 2) Edward Carnby (Album Version)
 * 3) Edward Carnby (Com Truise Mix Edit)

CD1

 * 1) Edward Carnby (Radio Edit)
 * 2) Shadow Hunter

CD2

 * 1) Edward Carnby (Album Version)
 * 2) The Beast Within
 * 3) Edward Carnby (Photek Remix)

Digital EP

 * 1) Edward Carnby (Album Version)
 * 2) Schattenjäger (150 dB Alternative Mix)
 * 3) Burn For You (Live @ Live Lounge)
 * 4) Edward Carnby (M83 va. Big Black Delta Remix)
 * 5) Edward Carnby (Ki Theory Remix)
 * 6) Edward Carnby (Com Truise Mix)

Music Video
The video opens with a panoramic view of New York City as the long instrumental intro to ‘Edward Carnby’ plays. The place is overcast with clouds, giving the scene an ominous feel to it. We see a winged beast flying on-screen, and others like it in the background. Without breaking the shot, the camera pulls back and follows this beast to reveal that there is a whole swarm of them flying over the city. We cut to a secluded house in a wooded area somewhere just outside the city, where the main character (Edward Carnby himself) is. In a point-of-view shot we see him wandering toward the bathroom mirror, blearily looking at his reflection as he thinks of his girlfriend being abducted by the winged beasts and remembering the terror on her face as she was taken away. Edward stares at his reflection in the mirror; we get a look at a disfiguring scar on his face. Anger takes over him and he smashes the mirror with his fist, then takes off to try and rescue the girl. We see him leave the house and take off running into the heart of the city. He makes his way to Central Park where the girl was abducted from, but he doesn’t get to stop and take in the scene to figure out what to do, as an underground creature comes rushing at him, causing the pavement to crack apart in its wake. Edward continues to run in order to evade it, but it is quicker than him – circling around in front of him to come straight for him as he reaches a fork in the path.

A zombie-like creature bursts out of the ground just as Edward is approaching. Edward stops as the monster claws out of the ground to stand before him. It gives an inhuman shriek and begins to run toward Edward, who pulls out a bottle with alcoholic liquid from his pocket. He throws the bottle at the creature and pulls out a revolver. He takes aim at the flying bottle and fires a bullet at it. Due to the digital nature of the video, we see a ‘special effects’ shot following the bullet as it hurtles toward the bottle. The impact of the bullet with the bottle causes a spark which ignites the alcohol and causes the bottle to explode right in the zombie’s path. The zombie is obliterated in the blast. When the blast clears we’re taken to another scene, showing the exterior of a building. We see Edward running up the stairs and inside. With his gun still drawn we see him running through the building which is in disarray due to all the chaos going on in the city. Edward slows to a walk as he enters one empty, open space that seems quiet. He looks around at the damage around him, and is interrupted with a giant demonic spider leaps down from above, startling him. The spider demon attacks Edward, who gets out of the way as quickly as possible.

Edward takes any route he can to try and avoid the giant demon spider; he makes his way to an apartment block, jumping over holes in the floor where he can find them. Soon enough he comes to a section of building where the outer wall is completely gone. Edward climbs through this hole and out onto the wall of the building. Far below, more hellish creatures hurl objects at him, such as cars and trees, trying to hinder his progress. They don’t hit him, but they do manage to make one section of wall collapse while he’s still attached to it. The camera follows his descent, where he stops his fall by catching hold of a gargoyle head statue. There is luck for Edward; he is not left there to hang, either to die from losing his grip or being attacked while hanging on for his life. Edward looks up as a helicopter pulls to a stop above his head. The people in the helicopter drop down a rope for him which he grabs onto and climbs up into the craft. They zoom away as one of the overlarge winged beasts from the beginning of the video chases them. Edward fires at the creature from the open door of the chopper, trying to deter it from pursuing them. Eventually Edward throws down the rope from the chopper again and he climbs down to a new location right before the beast causes the helicopter to crash.

Edward looks around at the area where he lands; there’s a hole in the wall behind him, which he turns around and walks into. He comes across a ladder which he climbs up, and into a corridor. At the end of the corridor is a padlocked wire door. Edward blows the lock on the door so he can open the door and step through. He finds a bunch of fleshy cocoons all over the room. Trapped in one of them is his girlfriend, who reaches for him while crying out for help. Edward grabs an axe from the hallway right behind him and swings at the cocoon, chopping the girl free from its confines. She drops to the floor, and Edward gently lifts her up and takes her away from the place. We cut back to Central Park, where Edward and the girl and sitting together on a park bench under a light post. During the line ‘I feel like... nothing’ we see them sitting there from the front. The scene looks eerie, with Edward comforting the girl while they’re both covered with blood. He has an oddly blank expression on his face. The video ends with a shot of New York again, appearing to be back to normal.

Chart Performance
Originally, "Edward Carnby" was scheduled for a September 19th release, but with competition from Iris, Syd Wolfe, L'Mondrea and Intoxicated, there were concerns that the date would be too crowded, so the release was pushed up to September 5th. Aside from this, the script for "Fall From Grace 2: The Forsaken" had been greenlit and the band was preparing to begin shooting of the film. The new release date had far less competition, with only Kazimiera and Regina Harper against the band. Many expected Regina Harper would hit #1 with her China-penned URAPS Idol 12 winner's single, but "Edward Carnby" proved unexpectedly popular, gaining a hefty lead to earn their first UK #1 hit, with sales exceeding 118k (the band's biggest opening week and highest sales week to date). The song's overall sales did not quite match the sales of previous hit "Aphrodite Under Fire". The song was a very sluggish airplay hit, taking a long time to hit the airplay chart, but it eventually became a decent airplay hit with great longevity and a top 20 peak. The song was also a major digital hit for the band, selling over 124k in digital units. In the US, the song received strong airplay on Active Rock, but did not receive any crossover play, and with minimal sales only made it to #86 on the Hot 100, outcharting "Prodigal Daughter". In Australia, the song only made the top 60 on the airplay chart and top 40 on the ARIA singles chart.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 288,497
 * Week 1: #1 - 118,164
 * Week 2: #4 - 66,002
 * Week 3: #8 - 40,661
 * Week 4: #15 - 23,574
 * Week 5: #28 - 15,652
 * Week 6: #29 - 11,066
 * Week 7: #27 - 13,378