'The Underground Railroad' Exclusive Music: Hear 2 New Tracks From Nicholas Britell's Incredible Score

When you talk about the best film composers working today, you always hear about those legendary folks like John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Yes, they are two people that will undoubtedly go on the Mt. Rushmore of film music, if one of those ever gets built. But in 2021, if you want to find a great score for a project just by name only, you absolutely need to listen to anything by Nicholas Britell. And a great place to start would be with his music for Barry Jenkins’ latest project, “The Underground Railroad.”

Previously, Jenkins and Britell have collaborated on “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” which both earned the composer Oscar nominations. But with “The Underground Railroad,” Britell had the monumental task of creating music for a 10-episode TV series, which is a huge task for anyone who is used to working in the medium of 2-hour filmmaking. And thus, you’re left with scores that span multiple Volumes of releases.

Thankfully, Lakeshore Records is following up the release of “The Underground Railroad Vol. 1” with two more albums of Britell’s incredible music. And with the release of Volumes 2 and 3 coming soon, we’re thrilled to give our readers an exclusive peek at two tracks from the albums. For those not aware, “The Underground Railroad” is a series written and directed by Jenkins and tells the story of a young woman, Cora, that is attempting to escape the antebellum South and finds the literal Underground Railroad (not just a metaphor) as she searches for freedom.

Speaking about the upcoming volumes of music for the Amazon series, Britell said, “The scale of ‘The Underground Railroad’ is immense. Over 20 months, Barry and I worked to craft a set of musical landscapes to weave into Cora’s epic story. Volumes 2 and 3, combined with the previously released Volume 1, reflect the full scope of our musical journey together for the show.”

“The Underground Railroad” is available now on Amazon Prime Video, and Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the score, released by Lakeshore Records, will be available digitally on May 28. You can hear the two exclusive preview tracks below: