Of all the many pleasures of Nicolas Winding Refn‘s very imminent “Drive,” one of the deepest is its ice-cool soundtrack. Combining a fantastic 80s-tinged synth score from Cliff Martinez with a selection of Italodisco cuts from artists like Kavinsky and College, it’s worth a download even if you have no intention of seeing the film. And it looks like the soundscape of the film is something that Winding Refn is intending on continuing in the near future; Portland electronica artist Johnny Jewel, best known for his band Glass Candy (whose music was featured in Refn’s “Bronson“), but who has two song on the film through side-projects Desire and Chromatics, has revealed that the director’s asked him to work on his big blockbuster debut.
Jewel spoke to Movies.com in promotion of the film, and revealed that, should the film go ahead, he may work on the music for “Logan’s Run,” the remake of the 70s sci-fi picture which is set to reteam Winding Refn and “Drive” star Ryan Gosling. The musician reveals “Nick talked to me a little bit about Logan’s Run. He mentioned it and was just trying to feel out if I was interested, and I was telling him about how on my 30th birthday, I had a party and I had a blinking stone in my hand, because I was super into that movie and obsessed with the idea of turning 30 or whatever. So that’s something I’ve been doing.”
It’s obviously a way off; Winding Refn has to make “Only God Forgives” first, and only time will tell if he sticks on the project where many, including Bryan Singer and Carl Erik Rinsch, have dropped off over the years. But Jewel’s already got a clear idea in mind for where he might go. “I would say it’s just subtle and unimposing, but it has personality. I mean, I would say it’s not that weird. I mean, some of it is beat-oriented, but it’s like they’re not loose, but it’s like circular. So in a way, it’s like because there’s percussion it makes it less weird. And the drone, the drone stuff, it’s like more in the vein of Karl Stockhausen or John Cage, or like a little less, kitschy is not the right word, but a little less in your face than John Carpenter, you know? It’s still basically within musical keys and things like that.” Dude is speaking our language.
Head over to Movies.com for more of their interview with Jewel, and listen to a few tracks below for a taste of what we might come to expect from the eventual soundtrack. And you can hear Jewel’s work on “Drive” in theaters from Friday, September 16th.
Glass Candy — “Feeling Without Touching”
Chromatics — “In The City”
Desire — “Don’t Call”
Glass Candy — “Digital Versicolor” (featured in “Bronson”)
