Atmospheric Anxiety
Bobby Krlic brings his dark ambient talents to work in Midsommar. Krlic alternates between slow, meditative interludes and discordant eruptions, setting loose a madness upon the listener while simultaneously following the main character’s tumult of grief.
Rob’s score for Cities of Last Things blends ambient atmospheres (reminiscent of bands like 2814) with jarring samples of shouted Mandarin dialogue. The result is desolate and languid, an unreal and overwhelming dream from which the listener cannot escape.
Alex Weston’s score for The Farewell is refreshingly short and to the point. Weston repeats several uneasy, surreal motifs often featuring layered vocal work acting as an additional set of instruments. While this often creates a feeling of anxiety and restlessness, the score culminates in a family karaoke rendition overfilling with joy.
An Old Master Returns
Having scored the 1994 version of the Lion King, Hans Zimmer returns to score 2019’s remake. Not surprisingly, Zimmer doesn’t fall into the common trap of overworking and re-tinkering that lays in wait for those who revisit their old material. Instead, Zimmer creates a very fresh-sounding epic score, whose sound perfectly fits the film’s savanna setting. The score’s highpoint is its maturity and emotional complexity, particularly in “Elephant Graveyard,” showing that music for a “kid’s movie” can tackle adult themes without being condescending to its audience.
Experiments with Modern Genres
Chad Cannon’s CyberWork and the American Dream is a rare entry in the increasingly dwindling use of American minimalism in film music. Cannon uses recurring themes constructed with a level variance in instrumentation and tone not commonly seen in the genre, staging the issue of technology’s ever-increasing encroachment into daily life.
Finally, Isobel Waller-Bridge makes the bold attempt at mixing modern electronic, more traditional orchestral and string work, and atmospherics for the period piece Vita & Virginia. The result is a surprising success. Although it begins jubilantly, the score slowly takes darker turns with stripped-down string progressions and themes and ambient electronics that devolve into an increasing hopelessness.