The Award-Winning Music Editor and Electronic Music Producer Unleashes a Haunting Journey Through Temptation, Darkness, Indulgence and Salvation with His Newly Remastered Halloween Release
Halloween has always been about more than costumes, candy and things that go bump in the night. It’s about the irresistible attraction of the unknown, the thrill of stepping into darkness and the strange excitement of discovering what might be waiting on the other side.
For award-winning music editor, composer and producer Robert Anthoyne Chrétien Cotnoir (RACC), Halloween is an opportunity to explore those darker instincts through music.
With the October 1, 2026, re-release of “1031,” his atmospheric Halloween album under the name Grapefruit Sound Lab, Cotnoir invites listeners into a hypnotic musical world where darkwave, electronic rhythms, gothic imagery and cinematic storytelling collide.
Re-edited, remastered and released just in time for the Halloween season, “1031” is not your typical collection of spooky holiday songs. Instead, it offers a sophisticated exploration of human emotion, temptation, fear and redemption, wrapped in an electronic soundscape that feels equally at home in a haunted nightclub or a psychological thriller.
And with Halloween approaching, the timing couldn’t be better.
Enter the Darkness: The World of “1031”
There is something deliciously unsettling about the atmosphere Cotnoir creates throughout “1031.”
Rather than relying on predictable Halloween sound effects or novelty horror themes, Grapefruit Sound Lab constructs a musical experience that draws listeners deeper into a world of mystery and psychological intrigue.
The album unfolds through six distinctive compositions, each representing a different aspect of the human experience.
“Big Top Carousel” introduces the concept of enticement, conjuring the mysterious attraction of something beautiful that might conceal something sinister. The title alone evokes images of an abandoned carnival, where the music continues playing long after the crowds have disappeared.
“Pazuzu” explores transgression, borrowing its name from the ancient Mesopotamian demon famously associated with supernatural horror. The track’s thematic territory suggests a confrontation with forbidden impulses and the consequences of crossing boundaries.
“Asylum” represents castigation, taking the album into the psychological territory of punishment, isolation and confinement. It is an especially fitting concept for a musician whose professional background includes creating and editing music for dramatic television and film.
“Horseman (RACC Mix)” explores indulgence, while “Good Times Roll,” featuring Cajun Bob, addresses temptation. Together, these tracks reinforce the album’s fascination with the choices people make when pleasure and danger become difficult to distinguish.
Finally, “All Souls” introduces salvation, bringing the album’s thematic journey toward a sense of spiritual resolution.
Taken together, these compositions give “1031” a conceptual structure rarely associated with traditional Halloween releases.
It is music designed not simply to frighten, but to provoke the imagination.
A Musical Vision Shaped by Hollywood and Television
What makes Robert Cotnoir particularly interesting is the extraordinary range of experience he brings to his recordings.
Based in New York, Cotnoir is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing.
His professional credits include work on television productions such as Gossip Girl, Damages, Medium, Smash, Quantico, Instinct, Borgia and Netflix’s acclaimed political drama The Diplomat.
That background gives Cotnoir a distinctive perspective on the relationship between music, atmosphere and storytelling.
In television and film, music often communicates what dialogue cannot. A subtle change in rhythm, an unexpected electronic texture or a carefully placed musical transition can transform an ordinary scene into something unforgettable.
Those same storytelling principles are central to the concept behind “1031.”
Cotnoir’s creative foundation also includes an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and a bachelor’s degree in Theatre from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
His musical influences span freestyle, electro, house, classic rock, synth-pop and classical music, an unusually diverse combination that helps explain his ability to move between genres without abandoning his distinctive artistic identity.
From New Clear Sky to Grapefruit Sound Lab
Long before the latest incarnation of “1031,” Cotnoir was exploring electronic music through a variety of creative partnerships.
His musical journey included working alongside vocalist Robert Dombrower as one half of the synth duo New Clear Sky, whose recordings included The Stuff of Magick, Serenity and Vast.
The partnership helped establish Cotnoir’s interest in electronic composition, melodic experimentation and the possibilities of synthesizer-driven music.
Under the Grapefruit Sound Lab name, he expanded that creative vocabulary with recordings including “Broken,” “Picture Perfect” and politically inspired tracks such as “Love is Love” and “Fired Up!”
He also collaborated with singer-songwriter Amuka, also known as Sheila Horne, a protégée of George Clinton and member of the Parliament-Funkadelic-inspired Brides of Funkenstein.
Their collaboration “Don’t Fall For It” reached No. 14 on the Billboard Dance Chart and No. 41 on the Billboard Electronica Chart, demonstrating Cotnoir’s ability to create music that connects with dance audiences while maintaining his experimental instincts.
Another notable recording, “Dum Dum Gun,” features Broadway vocalist Sarah Naughton in a chamber-music composition confronting gun violence in America.
It is a body of work that reflects an artist unwilling to remain confined to a single musical category.
Halloween Music for a Different Generation
Halloween playlists are often dominated by familiar classics, novelty recordings and recognizable movie themes.
But there is an audience looking for something darker, more immersive and less predictable.
That is where “1031” finds its identity.
The album’s combination of gothic concepts, electronic music and cinematic sensibilities positions it as an alternative soundtrack for Halloween parties, late-night listening and anyone fascinated by the intersection of horror and contemporary music.
Its six-part thematic journey also gives listeners something to explore beyond the rhythms themselves.
Enticement leads to transgression. Transgression gives way to punishment. Indulgence and temptation complicate the journey before salvation offers a possible way out.
There is a distinctly theatrical quality to that progression, one that feels entirely appropriate for an artist whose career has been shaped by both dramatic performance and music production.
The accompanying videos for “Big Top Carousel,” “Pazuzu” and “Asylum” further extend the project’s audiovisual identity.
For Cotnoir, Halloween becomes more than a date on the calendar. It becomes a creative landscape filled with opportunities to explore the contradictions of human nature.
A New Chapter for Robert Cotnoir
Although “1031” arrives as a re-edited and remastered release, Cotnoir is hardly looking backward.
He continues producing new material under the name SUN1, with a series of recordings exploring electro, synth-pop, progressive rock, dance and contemporary pop.
Upcoming projects include “Beneath the Noise,” scheduled for December 4, 2026, and “Pictures,” a collaboration with guitarist Tao, scheduled for January 6, 2027.
His continuing work with Amuka and other artists reinforces a creative philosophy built around collaboration, experimentation and musical reinvention.
Yet “1031” occupies a particularly intriguing place within his catalog.
It brings together the theatrical instincts of a Yale-trained artist, the technical sophistication of an award-winning music editor and the adventurous spirit of an electronic music producer.
The result is a Halloween album with an identity entirely its own.
Something Has Arrived
There is a reason darkness has fascinated musicians, filmmakers and storytellers for generations.
It represents the things we fear, the desires we conceal and the mysteries we cannot quite explain.
With “1031,” Robert Cotnoir and Grapefruit Sound Lab embrace that fascination, transforming Halloween into an atmospheric musical journey through the darker corners of the imagination.
The newly remastered album is available now on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, giving listeners a timely opportunity to discover a Halloween soundtrack that favors mystery, mood and musical imagination over predictable seasonal tricks.
This October, the lights are getting lower, the nights are growing longer, and somewhere between the dance floor and the cemetery, something unusual is waiting.
Its name is “1031.”
And perhaps the most appropriate advice is simply this:
Enter carefully.
Listen to Grapefruit Sound Lab — “1031”
Released: October 1, 2026
Artist: Grapefruit Sound Lab
Producer: Robert Anthoyne Chrétien Cotnoir (RACC)
Genre: Electronic / Darkwave / Goth / Halloween
Available on: Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
Official websites: