In the world of contemporary film music, Clint Mansell needs no introduction. Even if you haven’t heard his name, you’ve undoubtedly heard his classic “Lux Aeterna”, from the soundtrack to Darren Aronofsky‘s Requiem for a Dream. Having recently seen the long-awaited vinyl issue of his quintessential score for Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Mansell has taken on another scoring project, this one for television.
Mansell is the latest composer to join the growing roster of composers for the Black Mirror anthology series. (Max Richter scored a recent episode.) Black Mirror employs every instance of techno-dread that one can think of and pushes them to thrilling and terrifying extremes. (The debut episode puts a sinister spin on the scandal involving former English Prime Minister David Cameron and a pig some years ago.) The episode that Mansell composed for, “San Junipero”, “takes place in a seaside town in 1987. A shy young woman and an outgoing party girl strike up a powerful bond that seems to defy the laws of space and time”. Because this is Black Mirror, any more plot detail runs the risk of the spoiler effect.
Below you can hear the premiere of “Faith, Hope, Fear & Falling In Love”, a moody number from “San Junipero”. This three-minute piece starts off as something like a Beethoven sonata composed for an 8-bit video game, but then it segues into an ambient, choral climax. The haunting echoes of voices in “Faith, Hope, Fear & Falling In Love” don’t last long, but what they do leave — as is usually the case with Mansell’s music — is a lasting impression.
Mansell’s score for Black Mirror: San Junipero will be released by Lakeshore Records on 2 December.