| 1. On their first soundtrack, classically trained cellist and chamber pop trailblazer realizes a dream, matching the acclaimed film's heavy subject matter with dark, abstracted orchestral flourishes and muzzy ambient textures. Released last year, Savanah Leaf's 'Earth Mother' has already notched up its fair share of accolades, winning the Outstanding British Debut award at the 2024 BAFTAs and placing on various end of year lists. It's a rare, sensitive portrait of a pregnant single mother in the Bay Area, who struggles against the system to get her kids back from foster care, so its soundtrack had to be equally tactful. Thankfully, Lu, who admits they've always wanted to write a film score, approaches their treatment with empathy and restraint. They were initially approached by Leaf to write a track for the end credits, and 'I'll Always Be' is the closest we get to the cavernous, soul-inflected avant pop of 2019's excellent 'Blood'. But that's just the starting point; Lu expands the track's key elements - minus the vocals - over a suite of short cues they composed using mostly a regular piano and an Una Corda, an experimental instrument developed by Nils Frahm and David Klavins. And these aren't just canned, classical vignettes - Lu reflects the film's tension and hope by muddling her instrumentation with brief synth themes and extended industrial passages, adding harp from Brandee Younger and sax from Isaiah Barr |
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