Jonathan Morali

Last updated

Jonathan Morali
Born22 May 1980
Paris, France
Genres Video game music, Indie, Folk, Pop, Rock
Years active2002–present
Website jonathanmorali.com

Jonathan Morali (born 22 May 1980) is a French composer, songwriter, singer, founder and frontman of the band Syd Matters. He is also the composer of many films and videogames original scores (e.g., Life Is Strange , Life Is Strange 2 ). [1] [2]

Contents

Biography

Debut and Syd Matters

Jonathan Morali was born in Paris [3] on 22 May 1980. He began his performing career playing at small bars until he was noticed by Third Side Records and signed to a recording contract.[ citation needed ] His first album, A Whisper and a Sigh, which was recorded during the summer of 2002 and released 28 June 2004.[ citation needed ] Developing an atmospheric folk-pop style that featured acoustic settings combined with electronica-influenced touches that sounded a bit like a hybrid between Nick Drake and Radiohead.[ citation needed ]

Since Syd Matters’ debut, their experimental genre has been continuously reviewed by critics. Their second album, "Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles", brought the band mainstream attention with a review in the 32nd issue of Music Week . [4] The unique sound they produce has been said to draw inspiration from genres such as prog rock, [5] dub music, [6] and Traditional pop, [7] while also resembling that of singer-songwriter artists [7] [8] but at its core is often considered a mix between folk and electronic genres. [4] [6] [7] In their reviews, they have also been compared to other artists such as Fleet Foxes, Fionn Regan, Grandaddy, The Flaming Lips, and Nick Drake. [5] [6] [8]

His songs "To All of You" ("American Girls") and "Hello Sunshine", a Super Furry Animals cover, were featured in the television series The O.C. in season 3's The Party Favor and season 4's The Metamorphosis, respectively. [9] [10] Additionally, "Obstacles" and "To All of You" were featured in Dontnod Entertainment's 2015 video game Life Is Strange .

Featured Syd Matters songs :

Film score

In addition to his career with Syd Matters, Morali is a film composer. His most notable works are the soundtracks for Möbius, Les Adoptés (The Adopted), and La Question humaine, the latter of which was composed under the name Syd Matters. Morali also collaborated with director Rémi Chayé to create the score for the animated film Long Way North (2015), where he included two tracks by Syd Matters in the soundtrack. [11]

Video games and Life Is Strange

Morali is also well-known for the creation of Life Is Strange and Life Is Strange 2 original scores. [12] A gamer himself, he had been contacted by directors Raoul Barbet and Michel Koch to work on the first season of Life Is Strange at the very beginning of the development of the game. Director Raoul Barbet wanted to have some songs from his band in the game, and Morali agreed to compose the whole soundtrack in addition to allowing the use of "To All of You" and "Obstacles". [13]

The soundtrack of Life Is Strange has won numerous awards including: Best Soundtrack at the 2015 PlayStation Universe awards, best soundtrack at the Game Informer Best of 2015 awards and best soundtrack at the Titanium Awards. [14]

Morali also composed the Life Is Strange 2 original score. [15]

Other projects

Jonathan has also composed music for plays, radio plays, opera and museums.

2016: Original creation around Dante's Inferno for France Culture radio, with Syd matters members. It will be played at Avignon festival. [16]

2019–2020 : Soundtrack creation of Pas de deux play by Julien Favart.

2019–2020 : Original creation for Abu Dhabi's Louvre museum.

2020: Original creation around Franz Kafka's "La 'Métamorphose, still with Syd matters, for France Culture radio.

Video games

Film

As Jonathan Morali

As Syd Matters

Albums (Syd Matters)

Studio albums

Singles/EPs

Compilations

Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
2002 Syd MattersA Whisper and a Sigh CQFD Inrocks Mag Won
2008 La Question humaine Victoires de la musique, "Album de musique originale de cinéma ou de télévision"Nominated
2015 Life Is Strange (video game) Fun and Serious Game Festival – ES Titanium Awards – Best SoundtrackWon
2015Life Is Strange US DarkCast: Games of the Year 2015Best MusicWon
2015Life Is Strange Quebec PlayStation Universe 2015 AwardsBest Musical SoundtrackWon
2015Life Is Strange US Game Informer – Best Of 2015 Awards – Best SoundtrackWon
2015Life Is Strange Golden Joystick Awards – Best AudioNominated
2015Life Is Strange Paste Magazine – Best Videogame SoundtracksNominated
2015Life Is Strange Hardcore Gamer – Best of 2015 – Best Licensed SoundtrackNominated
2015Life Is Strange Game Revolution – Best of 2015 Awards – Best SoundtrackNominated
2015Life Is Strange Playstation Blog – Game of the Year – Best SoundtrackNominated
2015Life Is StrangeNational Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers – Original Light Mix Score, New IPWon
2015Life Is StrangeNational Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers – To All Of You – Song, Original or AdaptedWon
2015Life Is StrangeNational Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers – Song CollectionNominated
2015Life Is Strange Ping Awards – Meilleure Bande-sonNominated
2016Life Is Strange Polygon – Emotional Game Awards – Best Emotional MusicNominated
2017 Tout en haut du monde European Animation Awards – Best Soundtrack in a Feature Film ProductionNominated
2018 Life Is Strange 2 Ping Awards – Meilleure Bande-sonNominated
2019Life Is Strange 2 Académie des Arts et Techniques du Jeu Vidéo – Pégases – Meilleure Univers SonoreNominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Dudley</span> British classical and popular composer

Anne Jennifer Dudley is a British composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genres, as a film composer, and was one of the core members of the synth-pop band Art of Noise. In 1998, Dudley won an Oscar for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for The Full Monty. In addition to over twenty other film scores, in 2012 she served as music producer for the film version of Les Misérables, also acting as arranger and composing some new additional music.

<i>More</i> (soundtrack) 1969 studio album / Soundtrack album by Pink Floyd

More is the third studio album and first soundtrack album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on 13 June 1969 in the United Kingdom by EMI Columbia and on 9 August 1969 in the United States by Tower Records. The soundtrack is for the film of the same name, which was primarily filmed on location on Ibiza and was the directorial debut of Barbet Schroeder. It was the band's first album without former leader Syd Barrett.

<i>More</i> (1969 film) 1969 film

More is a 1969 English-language romantic drama film written and directed by Barbet Schroeder in his directorial debut. Starring Mimsy Farmer and Klaus Grünberg, the film deals with heroin addiction as drug fascination on the island of Ibiza, Spain. Made in the political fallout of the 1960s counterculture, it features drug use, "free love", and other references to contemporary European youth culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midnight Syndicate</span> American musical duo

Midnight Syndicate is an American musical duo that has been working primarily in the genre of neoclassical dark ambient music since 1997 and is based in Chardon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Giacchino</span> American music composer (born 1967)

Michael Giacchino is an American composer of music for film, television, and video games. He has received many accolades for his work, including an Oscar for Up (2009), an Emmy for Lost (2004), and three Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulle Ogier</span> French actress and screenwriter (born 1939)

Bulle Ogier is a French actress and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandre Desplat</span> French film composer

Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer and conductor. He has received numerous accolades throughout his career spanning over four decades, including, two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three César Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Grammy Awards. Desplat was made an Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite and a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres both in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syd Matters</span>

Syd Matters is a French band fronted by composer Jonathan Morali. The other band members are Jean-Yves Lozac'h, Olivier Marguerit, Remi Alexandre and Clement Carle. The name Syd Matters comes from the slight modification of the names of two Pink Floyd members: Syd Barrett and Roger Waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benoît Charest</span> Musical artist

Benoît Charest is a Canadian guitarist and film score composer from Quebec. He is best known for the soundtrack of the animated film The Triplets of Belleville (2003), for which he won a César Award for Best Music Written for a Film as well as a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music. The song "Belleville Rendez-vous", in particular, earned him an Academy Award nomination as well as a Grammy Award nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jorge Arriagada</span> Chilean film composer

Jorge Arriagada is a French-Chilean film composer residing in France. Specializing in film music, he is best known for his longstanding collaboration with director Raoul Ruiz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Village People</span> American disco group

Village People are an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the release of the debut album Village People, which targeted disco's large gay audience. The group's name refers to Manhattan's Greenwich Village, with its reputation as a gay village. The characters were a symbolic group of American masculinity and macho gay-fantasy personas. To date, Willis is the only original member still remaining with the group.

Daniel Pemberton is an English composer and songwriter. Primarily working in film, television, and video games, he is best known for composing the scores for the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the latter of which earned him a number of award nominations, including at the Golden Globes and the Critics' Choice Awards. He has also received recognition for his work in films such as Steve Jobs, Motherless Brooklyn, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Being the Ricardos, and The Rescue, as well as the LittleBigPlanet series of games.

<i>A Monster in Paris</i> 2011 French film

A Monster in Paris is a 2011 French 3D computer-animated musical comedy science fantasy adventure film directed by Bibo Bergeron, and based on a story he wrote. It was produced by Luc Besson, written by Bergeron and Stéphane Kazandjian, and distributed by EuropaCorp Distribution, and features the voices of Sean Lennon, Vanessa Paradis, Adam Goldberg, Danny Huston, Madeline Zima, Matthew Géczy, Jay Harrington, Catherine O'Hara, and Bob Balaban. Many plot elements are drawn from Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera. It was released on 12 October 2011. It was also produced by Bibo Films, France 3 Cinéma, Walking The Dog, uFilm, uFund, Canal+, France Télévisions, CinéCinéma, Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique and Umedia. Its music was composed by Matthieu Chedid, Sean Lennon and Patrice Renson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphaël Gesqua</span> French composer, arranger and sound designer

Raphaël Gesqua is a French composer, arranger and sound designer.

<i>Life Is Strange</i> (video game) 2015 episodic video game

Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. The first installment of the Life Is Strange series, the game was released in five episodes periodically throughout 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It was ported to OS X and Linux in 2016, and iOS and Android in 2017–2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Ott</span> French musician (born 1963)

Christine Ott is a French pianist, vocalist, ondist, and composer.

<i>Vampyr</i> (video game) 2018 video game

Vampyr is an action role-playing video game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Focus Home Interactive. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 5 June 2018, and for Nintendo Switch on 29 October 2019. The plot relates how Jonathan Reid, a doctor who has turned into a vampire, is torn between the Hippocratic Oath and his newfound bloodthirsty nature.

<i>Life of Pi</i> (soundtrack) 2012 soundtrack album by Mychael Danna

Life of Pi is the soundtrack album to the 2012 film of the same name directed by Ang Lee. It consists of music entirely composed and produced by Mychael Danna. The album was released in November 2012 by Sony Classical and went on to win a number of awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

<i>Avengers: Endgame</i> (soundtrack) 2019 film score by Alan Silvestri

Avengers: Endgame is the film score for the Marvel Studios film Avengers: Endgame composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri. Hollywood Records released the soundtrack album digitally on April 26, 2019, with the physical formats being released on May 24, 2019.

Life Is Strange is a series of adventure games published by Square Enix's External Studios. Created by Dontnod Entertainment, the series debuted with the eponymous first installment, which was released in five episodes throughout 2015. It was followed by a prequel, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, which was developed by Deck Nine and released in three episodes throughout 2017, with a downloadable content (DLC) bonus episode released in early 2018. The sequel Life Is Strange 2 and its spin-off The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit were developed by Dontnod and released between 2018 and 2019. A third main installment, Life Is Strange: True Colors, was released in its entirety on 10 September 2021. Additionally, a remastered collection of the original game and its prequel was released in February 2022.

References

  1. Ducome, Arnaud (2 July 2019). "" Des millions de gens découvrent l'art et l'histoire manette en main "". Usbek & Rica (magazine) (in French). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  2. Metreau, Joel (23 January 2016). "La bande originale folk à lier d'un jeu vidéo". 20 minutes (France) (in French). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  3. Priya Matharu (27 November 2017). "Emile Awards: Long Way from Stage to Screen with Jonathan Morali". Score It Magazine.
  4. 1 2 Syd Matters: Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles. (2005). Music Week.
  5. 1 2 "Syd Matters // Brotherocean". Outline Magazine. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 "Yann Tiersen / Syd Matters @ The Junction, Cambridge 11.11.10". beardedmagazine.com. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 "Syd Matters: Syd Matters". PopMatters. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Album Review: Syd Matters – A Whisper And A Sigh". DrownedInSound. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  9. "The OC Music: Tracks that are played on TV series The OC Season 4 Episode 4 The Metamorphosis". www.theocmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  10. "The OC Music : tracks that are played on TV series The OC Season 3 Episode 23 The Party Favor". www.theocmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  11. "Emile Awards: Long Way from Stage to Screen with Jonathan Morali". Score It Magazine. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  12. "Life Is Strange Full Cast and Crew". IMDb.
  13. "The Music of LiS2 with Raoul Barbet". Steam.
  14. "Life is Strange Awards". IMDb.
  15. "Life is Strange 2 Full Cast and Crew". IMDb.
  16. ""L'Enfer", le spectacle le plus dantesque". France Culture (in French). 1 July 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.