Kick off the new year with a great set of film score releases. While synth-based scores may have dominated the month, Howard Shore has released a haunting new orchestral score and Thomas Newman has released a jazz-leaning crime thriller. With so many films pushed from 2020 to 2021, this is going to be a busy year for great film scores!

Have a quick read about each of these excellent scores below then be sure to give them a listen. Be sure to see what other scores you may have missed by reading past editions of this column.

Further, if you haven’t already then be sure to give a read (and a listen) to my rundown of my favorite scores of 2020.

Flinch – Miami Nights 1984

Miami Nights 1984 helped pioneer the synthwave revival a decade ago (I remember blasting their 2012 release Turbulence on repeat back then). But they’ve been largely silent since. Until now. Flinch sees Miami Nights 1984 return, bringing their nostalgic synth stylings to the world of film music. But where their prior releases were often catchy and fast-paced (and sometimes over the top and self-aware), Flinch is slower, darker, and far more foreboding. The older elements are still there, but they’ve matured: early summer has turned into a long, cold winter.

Shadow in the Cloud – Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper

Another synth-based January score is Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper’s Shadow in the Cloud. It strikes a good balance between pounding synthwave throwbacks (in cues like “Shadow in the Cloud” and “Dangerous Feelings”) and slower, gentler moments (such as “Mother’s Milk”). Bridgman-Cooper’s tone and pace variations provides a fresh take on a genre that, in lesser hands, can feel quite overplayed.

No Man’s Land – Brooke and Will Blair (Interview)

Sparse neo-Western scores have quickly become one of my favorite film music genres, from Neil Young’s Dead Man, to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ Hell or High Water, or Michael Giacchino’s recent Let Him Go. The latest excellent entry is No Man’s Land by composer brothers Brooke and Will Blair. The duo takes their trademark droning soundscape style and add in guitar work by acclaimed classical guitarist Andrea Gonzalez Caballero. This creates a spiritually and emotionally draining score, rife with sorrow and hopelessness. It ensures that the wild west is as harsh and inhospitable as ever.

Pieces of a Woman – Howard Shore

Though most widely known for his work on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies (as well as his long-running working relationship with David Cronenberg), Howard Shore has been one of the most consistent modern film composers. His latest work is Pieces of a Woman. It’s a difficult listen, as the score’s agonizing sense of loss is nearly unending: thirty minutes of harrowing piano-led music that borders on 19th century horror or a drawn-out dirge. But there’s also beauty and catharsis within the grief. Unfortunately, the opening cue “Ruin & Memory” is from Shore’s 2017 work Two Concerti, disqualifying the score from many awards’ consideration and denying it the recognition it so deserves.

A Few More Scores

It’s hard to cover every single good score that’s released in a given month, so here are a few more very good January releases:

  • Archenemy – Umberto
  • The Little Things – Thomas Newman
  • Supernova – Keaton Henson
  • The White Tiger – Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans
  • Our Friend – Rob Simonsen
  • On Night in Miami – Terence Blanchard