Album: Jonny Greenwood

There Will Be Blood (Nonesuch)

Andy Gill
Thursday 06 December 2007 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

For his second soundtrack commission, Jonny Greenwood moves away from the abstract, avant-garde style he employed on Bodysong, to a more straightforward cinematic series of orchestral arrangements temperamentally appropriate to Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, a period-piece adaptation of Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! set in rural Texas. With furtive, pizzicato strings stalking away against sleek, sinister strings, "Future Markets" is the kind of lurking-menace music that Miklos Rosza or Bernard Herrmann would provide for a Hitchcock suspense thriller.

There's a deceptive sleight of tone to some tracks, particularly "Prospectors Arrive", where the opening sunrise strings, initially suggestive of a love theme, are gradually replaced by sombre horn and piano interplay more akin to a funeral. Elsewhere, the microtonal string clusters of "Henry Plainview" and the furiously sawing cellos in "There Will Be Blood" itself bring a flavour more evocative of the modern horror movie. It's not as daring as Brian Reitzell's soundtrack for 30 Days of Night, but it's a competent and stylish piece of work nonetheless.

Download this: 'Future Markets', 'Eat Him By His Own Light', 'There Will Be Blood'

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in