Development
Robert Ouyang Rusli composed the film score for Problemista. He joined the project during November 2021, when Torres asked about his involvement which he ultimately agreed. He liked Torres' work, which led him to work on the film's music at his residency. He crafted using the ideas of balkan choir, ritualistic chant, 1970s and 1980s synthesizers, orchestral minimalism combined together for a surrealistic element. [1] Having likened towards Torres' script and the actors' performances, Rusli noted that Torres gave him freedom to embrace his creativity with the two acknowledging on how the score amplified the stakes of the film to provide an eclectic feel. [2]
Randall Dunn served as the music producer. Rusli collaborated with New York-based musicians and artists, because of Dunn who assembled artists from the locality handpicking a choir, string ensembles and percussionists. He was instrumental in bringing the synthesizers for the film score, as much of the film was driven by synths. Dunn brought several analog synths and MIDIs, as well as VSTs and Ensoniq Fizmo synthesizers, which he mixed and modified with virtual synths to provide a widespread sound. [3]
Rusli had an idea to invent a language for the choir to sing fragmented syllables of words representing each character's deepest desires and fears. This provided a "gibberish" sound at easy listen, but the syllables align in a way where certain words are recognizable. As a result, the choir acted as a Greek chorus representing the journey of each character. Much of the score titles are based on the dialogues from the film; Rusli took phrases from scenes in the film the music is playing and used them for titles. [4] Inspired by Mica Levi's work for Under the Skin (2013), Rusli used grounded samples of organic instrumentation to provide creepy sounds in the Devil's Interval sequence. Throughout the score, Rusli sampled the synths and choir in the most unconventional methods, to give an otherworldly feel. [5]
Rusli was involved in the editing process in order to use his tracks as placeholders for temp music instead of score cues by other composers and felt it made the scoring process easier. The score was considered an amalgamation of choir, synths and orchestra resembling John Adams' works, as well as experimental music and sound effects. On Torres' involvement in the score, he noted "He's very trusting in the process, where he doesn't really think in instruments, it's more just like, emotions. As long as the music is doing what the scene needs, I can do it. There's like a hundred different ways to score a scene and I really had a lot of freedom to dictate that." [3]
Release
The film's original score album was announced on July 2023. Two songs: "Huele a Fraude" and "Monument to Possibilities" were released on the same time. [6] The album was initially set to be released on the original release date on August 4, 2023, but as the film was delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, the album was not released on that date. [6] Eventually, the album was released through A24 Music on March 15, 2024, two weeks after the film's release on March 1, 2024. [7]
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