Alita: Battle Angel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | February 14, 2019 (digital) February 15, 2019 (CD) | |||
Recorded | 2017–2019 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 64:16 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Tom Holkenborg chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Alita:Battle Angel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
|
Alita:Battle Angel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album composed by Tom Holkenborg for the 2019 film Alita:Battle Angel directed by Robert Rodriguez,based on the Yukito Kishiro's manga series Battle Angel Alita . The soundtrack was released by Milan Records and Fox Music digitally on February 14,2019,coinciding with the United States theatrical release. A physical soundtrack was also released,the following day. The soundtrack featured 20 tracks of Holkenborg's score. A promotional song titled "Swan Song" co-written by Holkenborg and sung by Dua Lipa was released as a single on January 24,2019 which was accompanied by the music video directed by Floria Sigismondi. [1]
Tom Holkenborg watched the initial cut of the film in August 2017,and had discussed with director Robert Rodriguez and producers James Cameron and Jon Landau,about the film's music. Holkenborg stated that the specific instruction from the director and producers,were "to feel the heart of the film". [2] He later joined the film as score composer in December 2017 and began working on the score. [3] As science fiction and dystopian films were heavily reliant on electronic music,Holkenborg decided to have a different approach to the film score using orchestral themes. In his career as an instrumentalist,Holkenborg used organic instruments and strings,which felt him great to find "a combination between the vast experience of an orchestra and sound design with synthesizers". [4]
Despite being a multi-genre film,Holkenborg approached it as a "personal story about Alita" and composed it in a way where "the whole score is meant to be [seen] through her eyes". He influenced orchestral sounds from the 1950s,which was reminiscent of Henry Mancini's musical scores for Casablanca (1942) and Touch of Evil (1958),as the film is set in border towns. [5] Calling Alita's main theme as the "important one from the album",Holkenborg opined that "her theme needed to be very organic and acoustic in nature to emphasize her humanity. The audience needs to lean in to her,not lean back,which usually happens when you use purely electronic music". He also planned for using electronic music to the score,but decided against it,as "it might not help on carrying with the emotional backstory for Alita". [4] He also composed themes for other main characters,that appear in the first 14 minutes of the film. [4]
Holkenborg co-wrote the song "Swan Song" with Dua Lipa through Skype. [6] [7] On his collaboration with Lipa,Holkenborg said "It’s super easy,most of the collaborations I’ve done in the past didn’t happen in the same room,because of people’s schedules. Everything is done remotely [...] Being in the same room is always great,but when that can’t happen you do the best with what you’ve got." [5]
All tracks are written by Tom Holkenborg
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Discovery" | 3:13 |
2. | "I Don't Even Know My Own Name" | 5:44 |
3. | "What's Your Dream?" | 3:16 |
4. | "Double Identity" | 1:54 |
5. | "The Warrior Within" | 3:31 |
6. | "A Dark Past" | 1:29 |
7. | "In Time You'll Remember" | 0:58 |
8. | "Nova's Orders" | 2:48 |
9. | "Jackers Mission" | 2:36 |
10. | "Unlocking the Past" | 3:52 |
11. | "Whose Body Is This?" | 2:06 |
12. | "Grewishka's Revenge" | 4:23 |
13. | "Broken Doll" | 2:34 |
14. | "With Me" | 5:41 |
15. | "I'd Give You My Heart" | 3:07 |
16. | "You Just Lost a Puppet" | 2:30 |
17. | "What Did You Do?" | 3:41 |
18. | "In the Clouds" | 3:56 |
19. | "Raising the Sword" | 1:43 |
20. | "Motorball" | 5:14 |
Total length: | 64:16 |
Holkenborg's musical approach received positive response from critics. Film Music Central wrote "Holkenborg crafts the music in a way that keeps you engaged and grounded in the story". [8] Calling it as "a great piece of work from Holkenborg", Blueprintreview 's Scott Gilliland wrote "Alita: Battle Angel isn’t a big stirring action and science fiction soundtrack as many would have expected, but, it is more like another of his recent soundtracks in ‘Tombraider’ in that it is more considered and gives the audience a chance to understand the world we are in and allow the characters to grow around evoke the feeling that although he is world building that our only focus is the main character. In this criterion he very much succeeded as he only begins to venture towards any noise and busyness in the big action set pieces and keeps any form of tech or electronica to a minimum, letting it live somewhere distant in the score." [9]
James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "a more than decent action/adventure score which does sound like it’s the work not just of a professional film composer but actually a competent one". [10] The Spill Magazine's Samantha Stevens gave 8 out of 10 for the score and said "With subtle echo effects and a grandiose string-dominated crescendo after the intro, it is simultaneously futuristic and classical, emotional and enticing." [11] Jonathan Broxton wrote "There are still areas of his work that feel inferior compared to his peers – the prominence of secondary themes being the biggest one – but, with that one caveat in mind, Alita: Battle Angel has turned out to be one of 2019’s most unexpectedly pleasant surprises. The main theme is good, the action music is enjoyably hyperactive, and the instrumental richness is truly impressive." [12] Anton Smit of Soundtrack World wrote "there is no dull moment on the album, where every minute is filled with a melody or a different rhythmic pattern". [13]
Credits adapted from CD liner notes [14]
Region | Date | Format(s) | Catalog Number | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | February 14, 2019 | — | [15] | |
United States | February 15, 2019 | CD | M2-37043 | [16] [14] |
March 8, 2019 | Vinyl | 398 166-2 | [17] [18] | |
France | February 19, 2019 | CD | 398 145-2 | [16] |
Japan | March 6, 2019 | WPCR 18185 | ||
Brazil | March 21, 2019 | 398 145-2 |
Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC) [19] | 33 |
US Billboard 200 [20] | 125 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [21] | 50 |
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) [22] | 13 |
At the 2019 Hollywood Music in Media Awards, [23] [24] Tom Holkenborg received a nomination for Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film losing to Alan Silvestri for Avengers: Endgame (2019). [24] The original song "Swan Song" received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 24th Satellite Awards. [25]
Tom Holkenborg, also known as Junkie XL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer. Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing electronica and big beat music and film scores. His remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" became a worldwide hit in 2002.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a soundtrack album for the 2015 film, Mad Max: Fury Road, composed by Tom Holkenborg a.k.a. Junkie XL. It was released on 12 May 2015 through WaterTower Music.
Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk action film based on Yukito Kishiro's manga series Gunnm. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau, and written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis. Rosa Salazar stars through motion-capture animation as Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body without memory of her past and sets out to uncover her destiny. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson play supporting roles.
Dua Lipa is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Time included her in its list of the top 100 most influential people in the world for 2024.
The soundtrack for the 2016 American superhero film Deadpool, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and distributed by 20th Century Fox, consists of an original score composed by Tom Holkenborg and a series of songs featured in the film. An album featuring these, named Deadpool: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released on February 12, 2016. It reached number 30 on the US Billboard 200, and topped the soundtrack list from Billboard.
Justice League: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the film of the same name composed by Danny Elfman. It was released on November 10, 2017, by WaterTower Music, while the physical edition was released on December 8 by WaterTower. Most of the material used in Elfman's soundtrack was discarded by Tom Holkenborg when he returned to score the 2021 director's cut of the film.
"Swan Song" is a song by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa for the soundtrack of 2019 film Alita: Battle Angel. The singer co-wrote the song with Justin Tranter, Kennedi Lykken, Mattias Larsson, Robin Fredriksson and Tom Holkenborg, while the production was handled by Mattman & Robin. Holkenborg also composed the soundtrack and orchestrations he created for it are used in the song. Announced in December 2018, the song was released for digital download and streaming on 24 January 2019 through Warner Bros. Records as the soundtrack's lead single.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, itself a director's cut of the 2017 theatrical film which had its own soundtrack. Tom Holkenborg, also known as Junkie XL, composed the film's score; he had previously worked on a score for the theatrical version of Justice League, before being replaced by Danny Elfman following original director Zack Snyder's departure and Joss Whedon's arrival. Upon Snyder getting the chance to finish and release his version of the film, Holkenberg was brought back and decided to rescore the film from scratch. The album was released via WaterTower Music on March 18, 2021, the same day as the film's release, and was later released as a limited-edition 7-disc vinyl set on April 14. The film's score is notable as the longest in film history at nearly four hours long.
Army of the Dead (Music From the Netflix Film) is the soundtrack album to the 2021 American film Army of the Dead, directed by Zack Snyder. The soundtrack was released by Milan Records on May 21, 2021, coinciding the day with its global release on Netflix. It features 12 tracks from the original score composed by Tom Holkenborg, also known as Junkie XL, and the Elvis Presley song "Viva Las Vegas" (performed by Richard Cheese and Allison Crowe). In addition, a limited edition 2-disc vinyl set of the soundtrack was released on September 10.
Godzilla vs. Kong is the soundtrack to the 2021 American monster film Godzilla vs. Kong. A sequel to Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), it is the fourth film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, the 36th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 12th film in the King Kong franchise, and the fourth Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. Directed by Adam Wingard, the film features musical score written and composed by Tom Holkenborg, the fourth film composer to work on the MonsterVerse franchise. He was announced as a part of the film in June 2020, before a planned meeting with Wingard, two years, expressing his interest on working on the score due to his personal love for the Godzilla film series during his teen years. The recording of the score took place for nearly two years, and was bundled into a soundtrack album, released by WaterTower Music in digital and physical formats on March 31, 2021, coinciding with the film's United States theatrical release.
Godzilla: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2014 American monster film Godzilla, which is a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise and also being the 30th film in that franchise. It is also the first film in Legendary's MonsterVerse and the second Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. The score was composed and conducted by Alexandre Desplat, being the first film composer to work on the MonsterVerse franchise. The film score was released digitally by WaterTower Music on May 13, 2014, and a separate vinyl album was launched on June 17.
Scoob! The Album and Scoob! are the soundtracks for the 2020 animated film Scoob!. The former, which was released on May 15, 2020 featured two singles, "On Me" by Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown, featuring Ava Max, and "Summer Feelings" by Lennon Stella, featuring Charlie Puth. The soundtrack also includes other songs by various artists, including Sage the Gemini, R3hab, Pink Sweats, Galantis, Best Coast, Rico Nasty, and Jack Harlow. A deluxe edition was also released on the same day, featuring four additional renditions of the tracks. The latter, featured film score composed by Tom Holkenborg and was released digitally on May 29, 2020.
Sonic the Hedgehog: Music from the Motion Picture is the score album for the 2020 film of the same name. The score, which was composed by Tom Holkenborg, was released on February 14, 2020, by Paramount Music in both digital and physical formats. Riff Raff, who had a role in the film but was cut, appears on the soundtrack.
The Peanuts Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2015 animated film The Peanuts Movie, directed by Steve Martino and produced by Blue Sky Studios. Based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts, it is the fifth full-length Peanuts film, and the first in 35 years. The original score is composed by Christophe Beck, with contributions from jazz pianist David Benoit and Meghan Trainor, who performed an original song titled "Better When I'm Dancin', released as a single on October 14, 2015. The soundtrack was digitally released by Epic Records and Fox Music on October 23, 2015.
Terminator: Dark Fate is the soundtrack album to the 2019 film of the same name directed by Tim Miller, featuring musical score composed by Tom Holkenborg in his second collaboration with Miller after Deadpool. The film is the sixth installment in the Terminator franchise, and a follow-up to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), ignoring the events that occurred in the other installments, post James Cameron's return and creative control to the franchise after directing the first two installments. The film stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Sarah Connor and the T-800 Terminator, respectively, reuniting the actors after 23 years.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is the soundtrack album to the 2012 film Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, the third instalment in the Madagascar franchise. The album was released on June 5, 2012 by Interscope Records, and featured original songs and score, produced by Hans Zimmer, who worked on the franchise's previous instalments. The album featured popular dance singles, accompanying few original songs written specially for the film.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the soundtrack for the 2021 American superhero film Venom: Let There Be Carnage directed by Andy Serkis, featuring the Marvel Comics character Venom, the second installment in Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the sequel to Venom (2018), features an original score composed by Marco Beltrami and a series of songs in the film. After previously writing a single for the first film, Eminem was revealed to write the song "Last One Standing", in collaboration with Skylar Grey, Polo G, and Mozzy. The single was released on September 30, 2021.
Mortal Engines (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2018 film of the same name featuring musical score by Tom Holkenborg. The score was recorded during October 2017 to July 2018 at the Michael Fowler Centre concert hall with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra performing the score and mixed at Park Road Post in New Zealand. The score blends and overlays modern electronic and synth-based score with orchestra. The album was released by Back Lot Music on December 14, 2018.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the soundtrack to the 2024 American monster film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. A sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), it is the fifth film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, the 38th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 13th film in the King Kong franchise, and the fifth Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. Directed by Adam Wingard, the film features musical score written and composed by Tom Holkenborg and Antonio Di Iorio.