Today Walt Disney Records releases the digital soundtrack for Lucasfilm‘s live-action series “Andor,” premiering on Disney+ now. The new album “Andor: Volume 1 (Episodes 1-4) (Original Score)” features music from three-time Oscar and Emmy-nominated composer Nicholas Britell composed for the show. And for those who have been keeping up with the “Star Wars” series, Britell’s music is just one of the many highlights the show has to offer.
And fans who love Britell’s take on the “Star Wars” universe won’t need to wait long for further music from the show. “Andor: Volume 2 (Original Score)” and “Andor: Volume 3 (Original Score)” will also get digital releases soon: on November 4 and December 2, respectively. One assumes the next volumes will follow the same approach as “Volume One,” with Episodes 5-8 featured in the second album and Episodes 9-12 in the third.
“Andor” follows Diego Luna‘s Cassian Andor, first introduced in 2016’s “Rogue One,” as he slowly becomes entangled in the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire. Tony Gilroy‘s show is a far-flung adventure that features both new planets to the “Star Wars” Galaxy and familiar likes like the city-covered imperial planet Coruscant. Britell’s remarkable compositions for the series give each new planet and locale a distinct sense of place, quite a departure from John Williams‘ scores for the earlier movies.
“I feel incredibly grateful to Tony Gilroy and Lucasfilm for giving me this opportunity and entrusting me with creating the score for “Andor,”” said Britell in a press release for the soundtrack’s release. “Working with Tony on this epic series has been profoundly inspiring. Having grown up as a huge fan of the “Star Wars” galaxy, it’s been a thrilling and actually quite emotional experience to become a part of this universe. I’ve tried to create a musical landscape that feels authentic and integral to the story. Tony and I explored every nuance – from crafting the on-camera music, to creating the ever-evolving score, to imagining each episode’s unique variations on the theme. I am truly excited to be releasing this Volume 1 of the original music to “Andor,” representing the soundtrack from Episodes 1 thru 4. More to come!”
As for Gilroy, he couldn’t be happier with how his work with Britell turned out. “How lucky am I? I had Nicholas Britell score my show. The best part? We needed seven hours of music and Nick lives in my neighborhood, so for the past two years, I’ve been biking to the studio and pretending to work when what I’ve really been doing is recharging my soul. Does it lessen the achievement if I saw how much fun we had doing it? Or how humbled we were by the enormity? Or how much we learned? I hope not, ’cause we’re gonna have to try it all over again next year.”
Beyond “Andor,” Britell’s other recent scores include ones for “Don’t Look Up,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Moonlight” and the upcoming “She Said,” among others. His TV work includes Barry Jenkins‘ “The Underground Railroad” and HBO‘s smash-hit “Succession.” He’ll also score next year’s second season of “Andor” and Jenkins’ upcoming “The Lion King” prequel.
For those who can’t get enough of Nicholas Britell’s musical work on “Andor,” buy the first volume of the show’s soundtrack today. And as mentioned earlier, “Volume 2” releases digitally on November 4, and “Volume 3” releases digitally on December 2.