The duo are not alone in their quest to branch out musically from making records - just look at Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, whose latest film venture was the soundtrack for Paul Thomas Anderson's film The Master having earlier scored the director's There Will Be Blood. Musicians are looking for new ways to supplement their incomes, especially now that record sales have dropped so working on film and television soundtracks is a new way of earning cash and publicity.
Sometimes it's more of an honour, as in the case of singer Emeli Sand, who has just co-written and performed the emotive pop song Here It Comes for Danny Boyle's new art-world thriller, Trance, out next month. Although it's unlikely this song will follow in the footsteps of Adele's Oscar and Brit Award-winning Bond theme tune song Skyfall, Sand believes she has "created something very special" with Underworld's Rick Smith, who has written the new film's entire original score, which stars James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassel.
Sand sang the hymn Abide With Me at the London Olympics opening ceremony last year, when Boyle was artistic director and Smith was musical director.
The new Tom Cruise movie, Oblivion, out in April, has been scored by M83's Anthony Gonzalez with TRON: Uprising score composer Joseph Trapanese. This is a soundtrack debut for Gonzalez's French electronic/shoegaze band from Antibes, whose rousing synth sounds combined with sweeping orchestral elements can be heard throughout the film, and in the end-title track StarWaves by Gonzalez and featuring Norwegian singer Susanne Sundfor. Gonzalez was approached by the film's director, Joseph Kosinski, who thought M83 would make a great match for this big, Hollywood, sci-fi epic story.
"I've wanted to do soundtracks for so long," said Gonzalez. "Starting with such an ambitious project, especially in the sci-fi category, means a lot to me."
The American indie band The Hold Steady have just recorded a version of the song The Bear With the Maiden Fair for the third series of his US hit television show Game of Thrones, with the lyrics written by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin and music by composer Ramin Djawadi. It may sound better suited to the fantasy saga rather than in the charts, but it will be released on seven-inch vinyl on Record Store Day on April 20.
"We were honoured to be asked to record a song for Game of Thrones," Hold Steady singer-guitarist Craig Finn said. "The pairing of our music and the show has gotten a lot of positive feedback and anticipation from our fan base as well as media attention."
Guy Garvey of Elbow is doing something a little different too. He has just been out in New York working on the score for a new King Kong musical with Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, focusing on the character Jack Driscoll, the first mate on the ship that sails off to find the gorilla. Garvey has written three songs for the epic musical, which previews in Melbourne, Australia, in May, according to kingkongliveonstage.com, before it embarks on an international tour in June, featuring a 1-tonne, 6m-high animatronic silverback gorilla puppet. Garvey said: "It couldn't be more different than what I do with Elbow." Maybe for these pop stars, a change is as good as a rest.
- Independent
