Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch reinvent “Only Lovers Left Alive”

Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch bring their musical worlds together again on “Only Lovers Left Alive”, a new instrumental version of the composition that shares its title with Jarmusch’s 2013 film. The track opens Bocca di Lupo, one of two companion albums the duo will release on November 6 via Sacred Bones Records.

Van Wissem originally wrote the piece in 2012 between solo tours while staying in Ghent. More than a decade later, he revisits it with Jarmusch in a more fluid, rounded recording, with the filmmaker’s acoustic guitar weaving around the original lute melody.

From Ghent to Bologna

The new recording emerged at the end of sessions held in July 2025 at Fonoprint Studios in Bologna. The studio’s address on Via Bocca di Lupo ultimately inspired the titles of the two records: Bocca di Lupo and Mouth of the Wolf.

The first contains seven tracks and opens with this new version of “Only Lovers Left Alive”. It also features “Never Like You Said”, with guest vocals from Courtney Barnett. Mouth of the Wolf, conceived as a musically separate album, consists of two long-form electric-guitar instrumentals, “In A” and “Massa Damnata”.

Almost two decades of collaboration

Van Wissem and Jarmusch’s creative partnership stretches back nearly twenty years. After crossing paths in New York, they began playing and recording together, building a collaboration spanning albums, live performances and the music for Only Lovers Left Alive.

These new recordings again combine Van Wissem’s lute with Jarmusch’s guitars, moving through minimalism, drone and experimentation. Their cited inspirations range from Sunn O))), Swans, Terry Riley and Morton Feldman to Hildegard von Bingen, NEU! and Glenn Branca.

Bocca di Lupo and Mouth of the Wolf are released November 6 on double vinyl, CD and digitally.

Source: Sacred Bones / Popstock! Distribuciones press release.