Composer Hanan Townshend has built a career crafting music that lingers—delicate yet potent soundscapes that elevate films beyond the screen. The New Zealand–born, Texas-based composer is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Terrence Malick, contributing evocative scores to “The Tree of Life,” “Knight of Cups,” and other Malick projects. His work has also been featured in independent standouts such as “Echoes of War” and the Malick-produced “Vessel,” with The Playlist previously premiering selections from several of his soundtracks.
Townshend’s latest project, “Went Up The Hill,” reunites him with the kind of atmospheric, emotional storytelling that defines his best work. Directed by Samuel Van Grinsven, the psychological thriller stars Dacre Montgomery (“Stranger Things”) and Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) in a tense, eerie tale set against isolated, windswept landscapes.
Townshend embraced a uniquely experimental approach for the score—crafting an intimate and otherworldly sound world almost entirely from the human voice. The music becomes a living, breathing presence within the film through ambient-style vocals and extended techniques like larynx tapping, pitch drifting, whispered ASMR textures, and breath elements.
He also collaborated with Alex Somers —known for his work with Jónsi (of Sigur Rós), and his film work on projects like “Captain Fantastic,” “Honey Boy,” and “Taylor Swift: Miss Americana”—on select tracks for the soundtrack.
Krieps contributed an original song for the end credits. The result is a sonic experience that is fragile and unsettling, pulling the listener into the film’s psychological currents. The “Went Up The Hill” soundtrack comes out on August 15, the same day the movie hits theaters. The single, “Silence For Days,” is out now.
Today, The Playlist is proud to present an exclusive listen to music from Townshend’s “Went Up The Hill” score—a rare blend of intimacy and unease that showcases one of contemporary cinema’s most distinctive musical voices. Listen to five tracks from the soundtrack, including an in-the-studio scoring video, below.
Edward Davis is a senior film journalist and longtime contributor to The Playlist. Davis covers the full breadth of cinema — from major studio releases to independent and international film.
