Nope (soundtrack)

Nope (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)is thesoundtrackto the 2022neo-Westernscience fiction horror filmNopewritten, directed and produced byJordan PeelestarringDaniel Kaluuya,Keke PalmerandSteven Yeun. The original music is composed byMichael Abels, Peele's regular collaborator, which consisted of a score that blends grand adventurous music and eerie sounds matching the film's script. Most of the themes were written before the film's production and were developed with a 60-piece orchestra and 30-member vocal choir recorded for a year.
The accompanying album comprised Abels' score and few songs heard in the film. It was released throughDolby AtmosviaBack Lot Musicin conjunction with the film's release on July 22, 2022. Abels' score met with critical acclaim directed on the soundscape and treatment of the film's music matching the situations, and the instrumentation choices, and received numerous accolades.
In July 2021, it was announced that Michael Abels would be composing the score forNope.Abels previously scored Peele'sGet Out(2017) andUs(2019).He described the score as having to meet the "threat level" described by Peele in the script and ideas inspired by the film's quote "What is a bad miracle?". The music is thereby carefully balanced to match the threat level in the script and storytelling and also compliment the visuals instead of overpowering them. Abels described the themes as a mixture of awe and terror, which signifies the bad miracle as discussed in the script.Describing the genre blend of the film's score, Abels opined that:
The tone of the film's music being established in the opening credits, which Abels did forGet OutandUs.Some of the themes were written even before the film's production, this included the OJ and Em's heroic theme, which was written as the audience could feel the thrills of the protagonist's risks, that felt realistic and the tonal shift from adventurous to horror music.Besides the action adventure themes, Abels also wrote a theme for the brother-sister relationship and a family love story.He added, "It's important to really start in all those places and kind of find where they all could join in a cohesive score."
He utilized eerie soundscapes to curate a layered and unsettling audio experience, especially in times of onscreen crisis.Some of the joyous and adventurous scenes which had been scored for the film were counterbalanced with eerie music for the unnerving sequences.Abels described that most of the music being aleatoric and improvised on paper, with specific instructions provided for the music team to denote the parameters of randomness and the method it has been played and the notations used throughout the score.
Abels utilized a 60-piece orchestra and a 30-member vocal choir to produce the score.The players used instruments such as strings, brass, woodwinds and percussions as a part of the orchestra. The strings were predominantly used to create anticipation and build tension through airy high-pitched notes and aggressive additions during pivotal moments, while percussions and woodwinds were utilized to heighten its intensity and provide a variety of sounds, textures and melodies in the score.Abels used theWild Westbrass instrumentation in the climatic sequence to match the grandeur, a first for a Peele film.Further, he used snappizzicatoin the basses to curate percussive and unique sound textures.
Abels closely worked with the sound engineerJohnnie Burn, who mixed the soundtrack inDolby Atmos.As silence being an integral part of the film, he admitted that:
Universal Pictures' in-house labelBack Lot Musicreleased the soundtrack day-and-date with the film on July 22, 2022.The 34-track album featured the songs "Walk On By" byDionne Warwick,"Strange Animal" byLawrence Gowan,"This Is the Lost Generation" bythe Lost Generation, "Exuma, the Obeah Man" byExuma,and ascrewedversion ofCorey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night".The remainder of the album is accompanied by Abels' score. On August 12,Waxwork Recordsannounced the vinyl edition of the soundtrack set forpre-order.The album is being packaged in adouble LP180-gram "Cloud and Pennant Banner" colored disc along with 12-inch booklet and an artwork designed by Ethan Mesa and liner notes from Tyree Boyd-Pates.The vinyl edition was eventually released on December 16.
Lovia Gyarkye ofThe Hollywood Reporterwrote "Michael Abels' pulsating score help sustain the film right up through its transfixing end."Jimmy O. ofJoBlo.comwrote "The score by Michael Abels adds a sense of mystery and fright."Phil de Semlyen ofTime Outsummarized that Abels' "terrific orchestral score" and the "magnificently loud and unearthly sound design" underlines the creepiness of the film.In contrast, critic based atFilmtracks.comwrote "The entirety of Abels' narrative arc forNopeis haphazard and unsatisfactory, leaving the score as one that relies on suspenseful execution from moment to moment to appeal."IndieWireranked it as the second-best film scores of 2022.
Credits adapted from liner notes.