A growing trend in Hollywood is seeing established musicians pivoting the world of film scores. Some of those high-profile examples are Radiohead‘s Jonny Greenwood (“The Power of The Dog“), Oingo Boingo‘s Danny Elfman (“Batman“), Devo‘s Mark Mothersbaugh (“Thor: Raganrok“), and, of course, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails.
Well, another group is getting into the film scoring game as Netflix has announced that musical duo Beach House, consisting of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, will make their film scoring debut with “Along For The Ride.”
In a statement, writer/director Sofia Alvarez explains how the partnership came together and why she opted for Beach House to score “Along For The Ride” instead of going with existing music.
“Originally, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have a score as there are so many needle drops in the movie,” Alvarez explained. “But whenever I discussed this with our music supervisors, Jessica Berndt and Jane Abernethy, I always included the caveat – ‘But if there IS a score, it would have to be done by Beach House.’ Then Netflix sent us their ideas about who the right composer might be, and completely independently of our discussions – they wanted Beach House too! So at that point, we were all aligned that this was the only way to go. Our music supervisors reached out to Beach House’s manager, Jason Foster, whom I’ve known for a long time, and he sent us instrumental versions of three Beach House albums to use as temp scores while we were working on the edit. Once we dropped their music in, it fit the aesthetic of the movie perfectly and beautifully heightened the emotions of the scenes.”
The official synopsis from Netflix for “Along For The Ride” reads as follows:
“Along For The Ride,” tells the story of Auden, who’s decided to spend her last summer before college in picturesque Colby Beach. While other teens party in the sun, loner Auden spends her time roaming the streets after everyone else is asleep. Everything changes when she meets Eli, a charming and mysterious fellow insomniac. On their nightly adventures, Eli challenges Auden to a quest to live out all her childhood dreams. Their connection pushes them to confront why they’ve been content living life in the shadows as they begin to show each other how to live life to the fullest.
The new Netflix film drops tomorrow on the streaming service with a cast that includes Emma Pasarow, Belmont Cameli, Kate Bosworth, Dermot Mulroney, and Andy MacDowell.