Mike Flanagan had Carrie’s Haute & Freddy T-shirt made after the duo’s music became central to his Prime Video adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Hearing “Shy Girl” before the band’s album came out even prompted him to rewrite episode 8 to include it.
The connection went beyond the songs playing over scenes. Flanagan says an early demo heard in the writers’ room became “the backbone of our score.”
Composers Andy Grush and Taylor Stewart, known as the Newton Brothers, worked the song into the instrumental music. Their score album opens with “Shy Girl – Variation I” and includes Variations II and III.
Grush says using a piano version was Flanagan’s idea. They saved the full song for Summer H. Howell’s dance as Carrie in the finale, “AP Physics.”
Other Haute & Freddy songs appear in episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7. Flanagan says listening to the duo’s then-unreleased album made him think, “this is our show.”
Haute & Freddy are Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp, Los Angeles songwriters who launched the duo in late 2024. Their single “Shy Girl” was released in April 2025, ahead of their debut album, Big Disgrace, on March 13, 2026.
Buzz has said the song grew out of religious trauma and the desire to be true to yourself, themes she also recognizes in Carrie.
The shirt gets its own introduction in the series. When Carrie tells Ms. Desjardin, “I don’t know what this is,” her teacher replies, “It’s a band. A very cool band.”
