We’re kicking off 2024 with several very under the radar scores – the year got off to a relatively quiet start, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a number of interesting worthwhile scores released; you just have to look close and keep those ears open. Luckily, I’ve done just that, compiling a few unusual pieces for you to check out. Among my personal favorites are the odd entries from TRZTN and Anna Meredith (The Seeding and The End We Start From, respectively). With the benefit of hindsight, I can say the year at-large has actually gotten off to a somewhat slow start with respect to film scores: beyond a handful of obvious examples (e.g. Dune 2, Challengers), there haven’t been a ton that have really taken hold. Maybe that will change as 2024 wanes, and maybe I’ll remember a few more as I comb through what’s been released between “now” (January) and now. Until then, keep listening and keep reading – there’s plenty to find.

Once again there were (as always) too many scores released this month for me to me to cover! Make sure to scroll to the end of this article for a list of even more January scores to check out! Did I miss anything? Well, let me know!

Have a quick read about each of these excellent scores below then give them a listen. Be sure to see what other scores you may have missed by reading past editions of this column or listen below to hear me discuss a few of these and other scores released in January, February, and March:

Night Swim – Mark Korven (Interview)

Like a lot of you, I’ve been a big fan of Mark Korven’s since he blew-up in popularity after scoring The Witch (even though his career stretches far, far further back). Even if he’s never really gotten the same accolades since, except for maybe The Lighthouse, he’s become one of our most consistent horror composers. A lot of that consistency comes down to his use of the apprehension engine, which has become a stalwart in modern nightmare creation. But he always adds new wrinkles. In Night Swim, Korven has many of his usual tricks, but he throws in a surprising amount of vocals – the new wrinkle. Horror is filled with vocals – choirs, chants, screams, you name it – but those in Night Swim are among the most guttural and monstrous I’ve heard in a score. If these voices start calling to you, STAY OUT OF THE WATER!

The Seeding – TRZTN

Another unsettling score is The Seeding by Tristan Bechet (aka TRZTN). I’m pleased to announce that it starts quite ambient (the genre, not the descriptor), and over the course of half an hour builds in strangeness, noisiness, and size. By the end, we’re swept into a fit of madness. One normally thinks of “seeding” as something that leads to growth, but here it’s a sense of constant decay and deterioration; rather than sprouting up from the ground, we decompose into.

The End We Start From – Anna Meredith

Anna Meredith’s score for Eighth Grade was one of the great film score surprises of 2018. Six years later she returns with The End We Start From. There are certainly some slight palette similarities between the two, but where Eighth Grade had an edge of discomfort and anxiety, The End We Start From is ever languid, punctuated by unusual, unexpected intrusions reminiscent of Mica Levi’s highly under-heard score for Monos. Meredith buttresses these with plenty of repetition and circulating organs, an oceanic current that pulls you out to sea, drifting, drifting.

How to Have Sex – Jakwob

Although Jakwob’s score was only released in January, it feels like How to Have Sex first came out well over a year ago (it actually premiered 16 months ago at Cannes). The inconsistency of release schedules often makes this series feel like a time warp, completely jarring my memory and sense of the past.

Regular readers (or listeners) will know that I often don’t cover short scores, since those below a certain length often don’t feel like they have enough meat on the bone, hard to avoid with ~15-20 minutes of music. At roughly 20 minutes, How to Have Sex falls within this camp. But with Challengers summer and my own fixation on the techno music in Run Lola Run, it felt only right to cover Jakwob’s house stylings here. The score generally alternates music the highs of short, banging house tracks and the lows of atmospheric ambience. It’s like a week of endless partying: unrivaled ecstasy late into the night whose glow fades away, leaving you cold and empty until the next night’s party arrives. The process repeats, until there’s nothing left or you’ve finally moved on…

A Few More Scores

As often happens, there were simply too many great scores released in January to cover, so here are a few more:

  • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Isabella Summers
  • Foe – Oliver Coates, Park Jiha, and Agnes Obel
  • Good Grief – Rob Simonsen
  • One Life – Volker Bertelmann
  • Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford – Raphaelle Thibaut (Interview)
  • When Evil Lurks – Pablo Fuu
  • Freud’s Last Session – Coby Brown
  • Origin – Kris Bowers (Interview)
  • Valle de sombras – Roque Banos
  • Home Sweet Home – Michael Kamm, Paul Rischer, and Maximilian Stephan
  • Jackdaw – Deadly Avenger and Si Begg
  • Le bonheur est pour demain – Beatrice Thiriet
  • Miller’s Girl – Elyssa Samsel
  • Silent Love – Joe Hisaishi
  • Sometimes I Think About Dying – Dabney Morris
  • Un Coup de des – Dan Levy