Words by Gabriel Spadaccini
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Suicide Squad looks to be the most insane Summer blockbuster film we’ve seen in many a season. With a cast that includes Will Smith as Deadshot, Jared Leto as the Joker, and the ever-beautiful Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, the upcoming DC Comics supervillain film has enormous potential to stand out in a heavily over-saturated genre.
This is to say nothing of its accompanying soundtrack album, which, according to Billboard, boasts artists as diverse as Skrillex, Rick Ross, Action Bronson, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons, and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Not to mention a Panic! At The Disco cover of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, or the haunting new track electronic/pop duo Twenty One Pilots officially debuted yesterday via equally macabre music video.
For the filmmakers and distributor, this is a brilliant move. In much the same way a trailer or commercial would, the tracks – released several weeks if not months in advance of their parent film – serve to build up a buzz around the upcoming feature. Collaborating with an artist, moreover, opens up the possibility of drawing their unique fanbase into the eventual ticket-buying audience. As an added bonus, if a particular track becomes a hit, it’ll linger in the public consciousness long after the movie itself has faded from the spotlight, promoting solely on the basis of association.
No doubt it’s difficult wading into the waters of commercial film, steering clear of the compromises deemed necessary to make a song fit a film’s specific plot and themes. As you can guess, some of the recent contributions end up sounding more natural than others. Here are five that shine through:
Hozier – Better Love (from The Legend of Tarzan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm4CrOfbHMI
Hozier has become known in the last few years for creating the kind of rustic, old-school rock & roll we all know and love, with his signature calling card being impassioned, smoky vocals that lend to some seriously dramatic songwriting. After seeing the initial screening of Tarzan, the Irish musician reflected that he “was struck by the theme of endurance, and endurance of love through such a hostile environment. I wanted the song to be an intimate reassurance as spoken from one lover to another—one that might be issued in hardship or doubt.” The result of his poetic songwriting is a piece – recorded at Abbey Road Studios – that is not only cinematic, but natural as well. It feels like something Hozier himself would write, rather than something he’d been commissioned to write, and that makes all the difference.
Twenty One Pilots – Heathens (from Suicide Squad)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UprcpdwuwCg
This is easily the creepiest Twenty One Pilots has ever sounded, which is saying a lot considering the Columbus, Ohio-based duo has made a career out of crafting deceptively catchy electronic-tinged pop songs that mask a whole lot of much darker lyrical content. In many ways it makes sense they’d contribute that kind of ominousness – sparse piano keys, eerie pitch-shifted vocals, and imagery that evokes an insane asylum – to the soundtrack for the upcoming DC franchise film Suicide Squad, which looks to be both excellent and intent on pinching in a fair dose of the same black comedy that made Deadpool such a success. No surprise here – the music video for ‘Heathens’ is similarly spooky, set appropriately in a cavernous subterranean prison as clips from the upcoming film and its many antiheroes are spliced in intermittently.
G-Eazy – Saw It Coming ft. Jeremih (from Ghostbusters)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9GcEf4evrM
G-Eazy’s contribution to the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot features some seriously bombastic production. Bass-heavy, laser-like synths are fired off for the entirety of the track, making for a kind of syncopated bounce that ultimately ends up sounding like the chorus drop of any number of ‘future house’ tracks (see Oliver Heldens). Thankfully, beneath it all there’s still ability, G spitting what sounds – apart from some movie-themed one-liners – like a freestyle, and Jeremih lending heavily processed vocals to the chorus. Most memorable line: “What’s a ghost to a shotgun?”
Matoma – Wonderful Life (Mi Oh My) (from The Angry Birds Movie)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ux_HIfZ_k
‘Wonderful Life’ is the sound of G-rated childhood cartoon coming to life. Simple lyrics, simple melody, and the same sunny production that has cemented Norwegian producer Matoma’s place in the upper echelon of electronic dance music’s aptly labeled ‘tropical house’ subgenre. That being said, ‘Wonderful Life’ is also entirely addictive. On first listen there’s a good chance you’ll feel a little silly – especially staring into the face of an obnoxiously yellow canary/roadrunner/duck-billed bird-type thing – but you can thank us several hours later when you can’t get it out of your head. JT doesn’t own the market on shimmering pop songs produced specifically for animated family films.
Jack Johnson – Seasick Dream (from View From A Blue Moon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NkXGqkMD_g
At the end of 2015, John John Florence released what may be the most aesthetically beautiful surf film the world has ever seen. Apart from supremely elegant surfing, View From A Blue Moon is packed with mind-blowingly gorgeous views in locations all over the world, coasts from West Australia to South Africa to Brazil all rendered in unbelievable 4K Ultra HD resolution. One of the main locales, of course, had to be Florence’s native turf on the North Shore of Oahu, the Hawaiian island also home to one of the most universally-loved voices in popular music: fellow surfer Jack Johnson. According to Rolling Stone, Florence initially asked Johnson if he could use one of his songs in the film, but Johnson topped the idea: “He was like, ‘Love the idea of making one for the movie.’” Given Johnson’s own childhood as an aspiring professional surfer on the North Shore, his contribution couldn’t fit View From A Blue Moon more naturally.
