It can be tough to stand out in the sea of competitors during the fall festival crush, but one picture around which the buzz hasn’t stopped is Barry Jenkins‘ “Moonlight.” The director’s first feature in eight years, it has bowled over critics, and astonished audiences with its powerful, triptych-structured tale about the life of a gay, African-American man living in Florida. And among the many remarkable things about the picture, is that despite three different actors playing the character of Chiron, it all comes together as a unified portrait — and the actors did that without seeing each other’s work. And to help weave together this intimate story is the terrific score by Nicholas Britell.
The composer, whose work you may have previously heard in “The Big Short” and “Free State Of Jones,” brings some truly stirring compositions to the picture, adding a dramatic punch to the already powerful tale. And Jenkins was impressed, saying, “Nick’s compositions pulse and rumble, creating a feeling in one’s chest that reminds me of the trunk rattling music of home. When I listen to this music, I picture a ‘74 Impala on 28 inch rims drifting down MLK Boulevard… blasting Bach, chopped and screwed.”
For Britell, the collaboration was equally rewarding. “Working with Barry on ‘Moonlight’ was a phenomenal experience,” he said. “He has an immediate instinct about how music works with picture. We would sit in my studio, watching scenes from the film, and experimenting with different possibilities. This is one of my favorite things to do – exploring musical textures, sounds, and ideas live against picture. When an idea works, you see how it can change perceptions of a scene. You really feel it.”
We’re excited to present an exclusive stream of “End Credits Suite” from the soundtrack to the film, which gives you a great idea of the work Britell brings to the picture.
“Moonlight” opens in limited release on October 21st, and the soundtrack will be available digitally the same day, and on CD on November 25th via Lakeshore Records.