Acclaimed for film scoring in the past 15 years, Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson has recently become the trusted go-to collaborator for director Denis Villeneuve and his stunning pictures, 2013's Prisoners and 2015's Sicario. Now they have delivered their third collaboration, the sci-fi movie Arrival. It should be noted foremost that Jóhannsson approached the score in a traditional way, recording everything with session musicians in assorted rooms, using the effect of layering to create texture with little use of sequencers, and relying on the processing of acoustics as opposed to digital manipulation. The move has proven to be a bold one, as the score is an entirely unique contribution to the story that it's soundtracking. The opening title track sets the tone, consisting of layer upon layer of piano drones that mesh between one another, some slightly higher in pitch than others, building to one of the most gradual, ominous crescendos you've ever heard. "Heptapod B" introduces the first taste of vocal manipulation. Recorded with vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices, indistinct voices segue, meld, and layer upon one another as distant, rumbling percussion and reverberated bass wash around the central theme. "Sapir-Whorf" largely consists of the same vocals, while urgent violas cut in, giving us Jóhannsson's signature use of discordant bass tones, something that the composer has always done magnificently, transforming a stringed instrument into something that is effectively utilized as percussion. A key success with this soundtrack is the use of velocity and volume; at one point or another, every element seems to fade away into silence or give way to other instrumentation, only to unexpectedly return at certain points, completely transforming the overall timbre of the track. "First Encounter" exemplifies this well, harking back to Jóhannsson's approach with Sicario; those distinct, queasy bass strings that rise and fall unpredictably give way to a silence that is just as effective as the parts occupied by other sounds. While some tracks encapsulate ambience and awe, others are a bit more concerned with action-oriented scenes, and the overall sonic palette is something quite different and never boring. Penultimate track "Rise" delivers more of those huge, sweltering, and organic bass notes with portentous strings, while some of the record's final vocal snippets calm the mix in every other bar. Which moves on nicely into the final track, "Kangaru," where listeners are reintroduced to the vocal experimentation from earlier, yet with bright and opulent string suites drifting around the mix. Another testament to Jóhannsson is that he began writing the score as shooting of the film began -- an impressive feat considering how well Villeneuve can trust his composer to soundtrack his vision before it's even left his head. Arrival is a fantastic album and a great piece of film score work, delivering menacing, daunting cacophonies of noise that evoke all types of fear, wonder, and intrigue that are evident within the movie itself.© Rob Wacey /TiVo

The two composers of the soundtrack for the first season of The Witcher are not (yet) stars of the film music genre, but they are certainly on their way there, given the phenomenal success of the series and its music. Giona Ostinelli is a Swiss-Italian composer, known for her work on a televised adaptation of a Stephen King novel (The Mist), whereas Sonya Belousova is a Russian pianist who was recognised in 2015 for the album Player Piano, produced by Stan Lee (Marvel). In 2019, they produced the soundtrack to The Witcher, an eight-episode-long series created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and broadcast on Netflix in the same year. The television adaptation is based on the literary saga of the same name, written by ‘Polish Tolkien’ Andrzej Sapkowski. The first season is based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, a series of short stories which precede the main saga of The Witcher. Given the subject matter of The Witcher, it should not come as a surprise to find several pieces with Celtic and medieval connotations, whether they be dances with fiddle or tin whistle solos (They’re Alive, I’m Helping the Idiot), or ethereal voices accompanied by harps (Tomorrow I’ll Leave Blaviken For Good). Rodion Belousov’s expressive oboe solos deserve an honourable mention in Happy Childhoods Make For Dull Company and Rewriting History. As for the action music, even though the powerful rhythms are dominant, the traditional fibre remains running through the music (It’s An Ultimatum). Finally, if the music from The Witcher is so successful, it surely owes a lot of this fame to its songs, especially Toss A Coin To Your Witcher, the tune sung by the bard Jaskier (Joey Batey) and countlessly covered and parodied on social media. Both the songs and the instrumental music from The Witcher possess a poetic and melodic power, rare enough to be worthy of note. To this end, they equally have an intrinsic interest, and you can enjoy listening to it away from the visuals. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz

Composer John Powell elevates the tension he so dutifully created on 2004's Bourne Supremacy soundtrack for the third (and final?) chapter in the big screen adaptation of author Robert Ludlum's internationally lauded Jason Bourne series The Bourne Ultimatum. All of the deft melding of taut electronics and explosive orchestral release that made the previous installment the blueprint for the modern espionage score is utilized here, and while there is little in the way of any memorable new cues, the familiar staccato sounds that have accompanied Matt Damon's character throughout the series mimic the relentless pulse of the film and provides the listener with a much needed buoy amidst director Paul Greengrass' highly kinetic ocean of visual stimuli.© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

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It's been almost three years since John Roderick and his Long Winters dropped the critically acclaimed When I Pretend to Fall. Since then, keyboardist/vocalist Sean Nelson and drummer Michael Shilling have departed, leaving only bassist Eric Corson and bandleader John Roderick to tend to the fire. If their new EP, a quietly explosive collage of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-meets-the Flaming Lips bombast, is any indication of where Roderick is taking the project, fans will have much to rejoice about. Built around the elegiac opener "The Commander Thinks Aloud" -- save two unnecessary live tracks -- Ultimatum is a rare EP that sounds almost important enough to be considered essential within the artist's canon. While it may eventually serve as a bridge to subsequent recordings, on first listen it sounds like a rebirth. Roderick's emotive vocals are in full effect, soaring fearlessly over drum loops, orchestral samples, and serpentine guitar lines -- it's not as shocking as that sounds, but it is noticeably more progressive than the sweet Americana pop attack heard on previous recordings -- resulting in one the year's biggest teasers. Let's hope that what follows is as passionate as it is complex.© James Christopher Monger /TiVo