I didn't immediately identify it as Richter because it's been processed through the Scott Free filter a little bit. That sounds like a pejorative but really it just means it has some broad brushstrokes that are typical of Scott Free productions. Richter is too gifted a composer to rely on boring chord progressions and brings some wonderful textures to the canvas.
The main theme is a brooding but gorgeous lullaby:
Variation for episode 2:
The Hardy character is cunning and callous with the way he reintroduces himself to society at the outset after his father has died, while everyone else thinks he's gone mad, and Richter follows with some off-kilter orchestrations and use of choir. Until I read otherwise I thought it might be Austin Wintory.
I can't find any more links but suffice to say it's fantastic stuff and hopefully we'll see a soundtrack release. Great news for Richter fans and a very worthy follow up to his brilliant THE LEFTOVERS.
I may follow your lead and pen a 3,000 word opus on Facebook dedicated to my first date with this score.
COME AT ME RUTHERFORD
Haha I suppose I should listen to the music then, eh? Tom Hardy is the mumbliest motherducker (ha), so I'm looking forward to watching this with subtitles on blast.
Haha I suppose I should listen to the music then, eh? Tom Hardy is the mumbliest motherducker (ha), so I'm looking forward to watching this with subtitles on blast.
If you're not a Hardy fan then this probably won't convert you. His little ticks and mumbles are on full display here. And then there's my wife, who has a thing for Hardy but calls every one of his movies "odd." Go figure.
The show is actually much better than I expected. I read a couple of reviews offering hesitant praise for its promise but only if it overcame a sloggy outset. I found it very compelling right out of the gate, if a little precious about reminding you "Hey look how grimy and bizarre this is!" At least in the early going it's settled in as a straightforward prodigal son returns home and settles scores story with human squirrel Hardy at the center.
I will watch it, of course. Most everything FX airs is done with pure class (somehow I'm including the episode of Louie where he submerges his nude body into a bathtub and the entire FX run of It's Always Sunny).
The score is good and the show has promise. It is no The Leftovers in terms of compositional freedom but the variations on the main theme during the opening credits are impressive.
Richter is releasing a soundtrack to Season 1 on digital and CD formats next Friday (September 15), with a vinyl release to follow at the end of October.
More than two and a half years later, and still no second season. I've forgotten almost everything that happened in season 1 by now (same problem I had with LES REVENANTS, in which the first and second season were years apart, which meant that the second season was all shrouded in a haze of confusion...and now it seems the same is happening in relation to a possible season 3). In any case, I stumbled over this article from March-2019, which explains why the wait has been so long:
Good stuff. I liked the series and the music. His music for The Leftovers was good too.
"Good" is the understatement of the year. THE LEFTOVERS has one of the best TV scores in the 21st century.
Crikey, I had oddly understated my love for The Leftovers score. I loved it from the first note. It kick-started my need to buy everything he ever did.
