Terrifying Tempo: Kim Petras spooks and scares with “Turn Off the Light Vol. 2”

Rising German-born popstar Kim Petras ignited much speculation in September when she posted photos of herself edited with a ghastly face, a signature prelude to her first Halloween-themed EP, “Turn Off the Light Vol. 1.” The album, which came out in October 2018, has energy very different than usual for the “Heart to Break” singer. 

Sure enough, Petras released “Turn Off the Light Vol. 2”  Oct. 1, 2019, an album with seventeen songs and includes the eight original from last year’s release. A cohesive, terror-filled narrative, the second installment in Petras’ increasing Halloween-themed portfolio is nothing short of stunning. 

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T O N I G H T S̸̛̞̭̝̔̊̎͋̅̈́͘͘͝h̶͎̕ȧ̵̧͎̤͓̰̦̭̪̆͂̽̈̑d̶͕̼͈͉́͘͝͠o̷̘͓͓̞̩͒͆̀̆͑̇͠ẃ̷̨̡̤̻̩̣̹̻͆̉͘͜ ̶̨̺̥͎͙̺̞̻͗̍̆̾̀̂̕͜s̶̡̭̖̪̺͓̈́̌̒͐̔͜p̷̠̉͛͆̓̌i̶̹͔̕r̵̰̠̻̫̮̰̞͑́i̵͈̯͚͍͓͇͑̂́̑̈́̔̾͊̂t̸̟͈̬̫̅̽̋͠ś̶̡̨̟̳͉͚̬̈̔͆̇͒̎̈̚,̴̡̤̯͔̭̥̩̥͖͆́͌̂̅͜ ̸͎̺͈͈̣͈̼͔̂̽͘c̵̟̠̿͋̎̅͌ơ̶̗͔̞̗̳̈́̒m̴̬͈̻͎̘̭̪̦͒͛̋̒͛̆̔̚ě̷͓͚̬̖̇̅͠͠ ̵̰̬̤͇͌̈́̂͆͘͜͝t̷͈̫̗͐͆̇́̎̇̒̏̕͝o̵̧͙̭͚̥̬͎̅͂͘̕ ̶̰̱̫͛̇͛ṃ̸̓̈́̏̂̍e̸̗̯̭͉͕͉͑̄͂͐̓̈́͝,̸̢̢̢̡͉͈̞̪́͌̔̀ ̵̟̞̘̠̠͕̾ͅP̶̡̨̻͈͓̜̥̱̿͗͛̈̅l̸̨̤̙̬̓̈́̉͛́̓̋͜͝a̴̰̼̖͍̤̦̿̉̓̏g̸̛̛̦̳͓̰̲͆͌̊͂̕͠ư̵̧̧͔̤̱̘̜̻̋̀̃̇͂̓͗͘͝ẽ̸͇̫͙̞͔̺̫̅̄̆̏̄͜ ̴͇̭̼͚̪̥̠͖̾̅̇̇̍̕͜t̶͕͂͌̆̈h̵̢̰͉̉́͐̆̈́͗̐͂̕̚ỉ̷̛̯͇̥͖̘͕̺̻̮͌͆̔š̸̺̻̐̐̔́ ̵͓̟͇̦͂̆͐͝p̶͈͕͋͛̉̉́̊ë̸̢̩̺̲͚͚̣͔͍͆̅͛͆̐̍͘͜r̵͇͇̆̎̄͐̐s̷̫̹̮̔̇̅̿͘o̸̪̜͈̙̮͍̯̹̝̓́͐ṉ̴̤̇͗ ̵̹̭̙͕̣̟̣̥̈́̅̌̀͑͜t̴̒͗̔̒̋̔̓͘͝ͅh̶̡͈̖̒͑̋͠ä̷̧̧͎̞̰͙̘́̊̒͠ṫ̶̨͈͚̫̬̣̤̱̉̋̏̈̈́̍̾͜ ̶̧̣̲̜͙͛͂ͅI̴̧̨̬͙̱̺͓̤͠ ̵̡̹̞̼̮̼̔̑̆͒͠ś̷͚̐̉e̴̖̒͊͒̈́̔́̃̈́͒͘e̷̺̲̞̲̳̬̩̫̓̒̾̃̍̎͛̅̓͝,̸̭̣̙̖̥̋͗̈̈͊̀ ̶̡̦͍͇͐̂͆̄̆̆̆̕̕̚W̶͉̣͋̓̆̐͛a̷͔͍̥͕̩̰̲̐̈́͑ṭ̵̨̨̖̜͚̑c̵̗̠̩͖͌͋h̴̯͈̮͂̽ ̶̨̧̯̮͈̠̩̜͌̅̌̕͝ṫ̶̩̮̦̗̲̱̱̙̊h̶̻̲̺͙͌̈́̈́͒̐̉̇͝e̶̢̡͗͌̌͒̇̏͒͌̂͠m̴̖̒̀̔͘ ̷̢̧͓̏a̷̡̛͎͕͚̍̄̿͆̉̈l̵̮̺͚̣̉ͅw̷̩̩̒à̸̜̣͉͎͖̄̂y̵̻͓͚̦̗̻̓̉͂ͅs̶̡̳̯̜̔,̶̣͈̬̳͕̥̜̯͖̯͐̾̈̈̎͠͠ ̸̢̺̣̫̉̍̚d̷̡̢̡͖̭͈̗̋͑̐̓͂̚͠ͅa̶͎̓̄̒̇̅̑y̶̛̤̩͉̫̹̺̅̑̾̾ ̸̢͎͉̟̖̯̳̯̑̂́́̽͑ą̸̛̛̬͉͖͕̖̞̬̳͊͛̉͌n̴͖͖̳̯̄̋̈́̍́͐̐̽̕d̸̮̽̓͠ ̷͈̪͙̟̪͙̖̖̽͋ṇ̸̡̭͔̬̲͎̱̘̘̑̅̍͒̑͠i̶̖̲̻̩͖͐̃̉͑͋̈́g̸̡͕͍̘̲͚̏͌̑h̵̗̍͐̑͐̊́̒̒͘͝t̵̛̹̳͎̑͐̎̋̽͆͜,̶̝̝̺͉̞̳̥̞̿̀͒̀͘ ̵͉͉͔̯͂̀̏̈͝͝D̶̙͒o̴̡̱͂̌͑̃̕͘͝͝n̷̰̳̰̲͉̓͜͜͜͜’̴̭͔͖̲̞͈̰͚͑́͑̆̅̽ͅt̶͓̤͎̙̤̯͎͉͈͖͊͐̃̊̅̈́̈͠ ̴̨̤͉͛r̵̦̥̽̍͝e̸͎̩̳̾̾͐͒͋͝l̸͓̯̞̝̠̱͍͂̈́̈͛͒̓̕͝ȩ̷̰̣̮̠̦̮̤̰͓́̈́̕ą̵̡̪̫̪̭̋s̵̗̕͝ẻ̸̫̩̪̼̠̳̘̃͋̓̏̀̅̈́̕͝ͅ ̶̤̈́̾̅̾͘t̸̜̪̘͇̻̓h̸̢̛͙̯̟̟̹̜̜̩̀̒͗͒͐̔͌͛͘e̶̫̖̩̒̍̒͘͜m̶̡̡̀̓̿ ̴̭̲͕́̎̈̀̂͆f̶̖͆̔ȑ̴̠̹̺̳ǫ̴͔͚̝͉͑̃̑͗̒̏̌͂͘m̶̳̂ ̷̨̡͉̗̣͇͕̞̒͋̇̓̈́͗͜͝t̷͇̳̠̭̻̠͍̬̀̅̃̈́h̴̢͉͎͔̰̬̪̝̳̉̏̍è̵̘̦̪͙̲̯͉̳͐̀ĭ̸̧̗̖̱̩͖̤̊̐̈́̉̊̐͑̊r̵̼̥̗̉͋̽̓̆͌̌̊̈͠ ̷̢̡̙̙̮̞̫̌͐͝p̵̲͋ḷ̶̲͇́̉̿̈̿̇́̔͊͜i̸͚̇̐̋̀̓́̈͘͠g̶̢̗̳͙̣̬̋͊̐͛͝h̴̜̜̻͐̓́t̵̛̖̤̟̩͙͎͂̐̚,̸̢͍̻͇̤̽̈́̉̓̓̅ ̷͕͋̀̎͊͒̎M̴͓͚̰̘̲̤̬͍̄̆͛͛͠͠a̶̧̳̠̙̰͓̝̳̝̺͐̆͛̇͊͘k̷̼̳̯̘̟̳̣͕̈́̌̌͆̂͆ȇ̴̱̻̳̖̮͋̅́̏̄̽͌͐ͅ ̷̧̡̟̥͋͋̈́̀̔̒̅͘̕t̸͍͛̿̈̅̌́̾̊́̚ḧ̸̡̢̞̜̟̟͈̻́̋̔̆̈̍̍͐͘e̶̺̖̋͛̍͊̇͂̓͝͠m̸̠͑̊̊ ̴̗̖̝̫̟̘̯͇̖̓f̵̬̘͖͉͖͍̏ͅe̷̦͐̎͆̂ͅe̵̤̬̘͖̹̲̰͉͋͊́̆̆ḽ̸̟̩̻̞͉͖̼̟̋̔̉̉̀̾̎͝ ̷̛̘̰͔̪͐̓͌͛̿̕͝ÿ̶̨͕̯͓́o̴̢͐̏͑̑͗̈́͝ȗ̵̢͈̖̫̚r̴͙̖͍͓̰̙̟͍̅̅͋̑ ̶̡͉̭̻̭͔̳͎̾̅͌̑̈́̑ī̵̦̣͓̘͌̌̃̇̋̋̋͘͝c̶̢̡͚͙̥̬͉̞̭̈́͠y̸̙͂ ̵̧̗̩̳͛̎̊̀́s̸̗̝̏͌̇̍̒̿̏͘̚t̸̼̭̱̑̊ã̷͚͌̍͜ͅŗ̷̛̮̖̦̊̂͋̊͆̿̄̊͠é̸̢̡̨̩̼͔̮̟̹̝̊͗́̔̎̌̚̕̚,̵̡̤̯̯̳̦͍̬͖̞̿̾̃ ̵̟͂̏̐̓͐̋́͠͠͝E̸̡͚̪̲̹̙͔̝̱̞̊v̵̧͚̪̦̤̩͕̹̆̒͜͝ę̶̛̥̟̱̞̦̰̏͆͝n̴̢̡̞͙͊͝ ̷̙̙͑͗i̷͓͈̥̦͕̹͙͈̔͌̓̈̎f̷͎͍̋ͅ ̶̧̳̺̮̮͔̬̙̈́̉͒̐̋t̶̟̟͔̺̗͖͎̄̾̅̿͜͝ḩ̸̝͎̌̉̆͐̈́̿̑̅̕ë̵̳̰̝͎͙̦́̄͑̃̊͝r̷̘͕̈́͠ë̸̮̤͖̰́̋̔̓̓̉̔͛͠ͅ’̸̛̰͊̋̐̃͛͛͆

A post shared by KIM PETRAS (@kimpetras) on Sep 30, 2019 at 7:08pm PDT

The album begins with “Purgatory,” an undoubtedly horror movie soundtrack-influenced that makes use of her angelic vocals backed with a dance-pop beat. It seamlessly glides into the next track, a common factor that continues throughout the album with each song transitioning into the other as if the entire album was one extra-long track. “There Will Be Blood” bears Petras’ cautioning message, the song’s title, with a production you could absolutely dance to. 

Getting darker, the album moves to “Bloody Valentine” with stronger, deeper vocals than the beginning songs and a marker of the last moment for fun and games before it gets to the real horrors. “<demons>” has little vocals besides a childlike voice beginning the track with “The spirits are living in the house, possessed” and transitioning into a purely-dance pop song with a drop. “Massacre” spins the cadence from the Christmas classic “Carol of the Bells” in an appropriately creepy way over a tune that elicits the air of walking into a haunted house from an 80s horror flick, pitch-perfect for the season.

Beginning with the metallic sound of sharpening blades, “Knives” returns to a vocal-less beat like quite a few tracks on this album. Volume 2 added on to the beginning of Volume 1, acting as a prequel to her Halloween tale, so the song goes into the first track from “Turn Off the Light Vol. 1,” “omen.” Much like “Purgatory,” this track, influenced by the “Halloween” soundtrack, incorporates angelic vocals over an ominous backing. In “Close Your Eyes” and “TRANSylvania,” a title evidently inspired by Petras being openly transgender herself, Petras does not let up the heavy dance-pop beats coupled with lines fit for a horror movie singing, “There’s no way you’ll make it out alive.”

The titular track “Turn Off the Light” proves to be the most playful, Halloween party-esque on the album, bringing Elvira, known for being the satirical, gothic hostess with a signature valley girl accent of “Elvira’s Movie Macabre,” a horror show from the 80s, on Los Angeles TV Station KHJ-TV, in to add her horror-elegance style to the vocals. 

Synth chords introduce “i don’t wanna die,” the song with the heaviest EDM-feel on the album. Petras returns to her ethereal vocals to start off “In The Next Life” that gives way to dark lyrics, notably a chorus in German where she proves to be a demon in disguise chanting, “Ich bin dein Alptraum, ich bin dein Omen. (Translation: I am your nightmare, I am your omen.)”

Originally ending the first installment of Petras’ Halloween album series, “Boo! B****!” playfully keeps up the more-danceable than the monster mash beats with heavy drops. Being the most gentle track on the album, Petras added “Everybody Dies” to be the finale to the album, changing last year’s album’s ending of “Boo! B****!” With a production that could be the beat of an inspirational song, this track sets itself apart with its central message: “everybody dies.”

Adding new songs to the original and changing the conclusion of her 2018 EP, Kim Petras solidifies herself as the queen of Halloween bops with “Turn Off the Light Vol. 2.” Fans can only look forward to what next October will bring for the pop star who climbs above cliche Christmas albums and trades it in for ominous party tracks. 

Tickets to “The Clarity Tour” for her previous bubblegum-pop album, released in June, can be found here.