Under the Skin (soundtrack)

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Under the Skin (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Under the Skin (soundtrack).jpg
Film score by
Mica Levi
Released28 March 2014 (2014-03-28)
Genre
Length46:57
Label Rough Trade Records
Producer
Mica Levi chronology
Never
(2012)		Under the Skin
(2014)		Good Sad Happy Bad
(2015)

Under the Skin (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2014 film of the same name. Released digitally on 28 March 2014 by Rough Trade Records, [2] the soundtrack was composed by Mica Levi [3] [4] and produced by Peter Raeburn. [5] The score consists of dark ambient music, primarily written and recorded over a span of 10 months, with the pitch of the score being altered at several intervals for "listeners to make them feel uncomfortable". [5] While the score consisted of viola, several instruments such as strings and percussions were accompanied in the cues. The album was physically released in CDs on 18 April 2014, [6] and a vinyl edition was released on 10 October by Warner Records and Milan Records, which re-issued the album twice: [4] the first re-issue was released on 12 June 2020 by Mondo and a second re-issue is scheduled for release on 8 July 2022 by Juno Records. [7]

Contents

The score opened to critical acclaim praising Levi's minimalistic approach and compositions, and was raved by several contemporary musicians and artists. [8] Been cited as "one of the best film scores", [9] it received accolades at various ceremonies, including a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, but could not get shortlisted for 87th Academy Awards. [10] Despite this, the score won several awards at critics associations.

Development

"A lot of the sound is a mixture of bad recording technique, on my part, and not-fine playing. Violas are so harmonic because they contain a lot of air. A viola is not solid, the sound it produces is like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of something, because you get an airiness, and creepiness, and there’s a struggle in that. The vibrato doesn’t ring out. It’s dead. A lot of the score uses microphones, and any sort of difference of expression there is created by the clashing of microphones. I find that I love that. Those are the things that ended up happening."

— Mica Levi, on recording the score in an interview with IndieWire . [11]

Raeburn suggested Levi to Glazer, who contacted them after hearing Chopped and Screwed, their collaboration with the London Sinfonietta. Glazer wanted the music to express the protagonist's feelings as she experienced things like food and sex for the first time, and directed Levi with prompts such as "What does it sound like to be on fire?" or "Imagine when you tell somebody a joke and it’s not very good and their reaction’s a bit stilted". [12] Later scenes use less music, to emphasise the sounds of the natural world that Johansson's character experiences, which she felt that writing the score was "quite improvised". [13] After, Glazer showed them a few pieces of footage from the film, Levi asked Glazer about what the music could be in "an abstract way" and Glazer suggested they follow their own trajectory. [5] Glazer further stated to Pitchfork in an interview saying "We had a lot of discussions about what sounds might work and what wouldn’t, and when we heard the ones that sounded right, they became the language for the film. All those bendy and stretched notes just felt correct. It came half from the heart, half from the head." [14]

Levi used mainly a viola to write and record over ten months, taking inspiration from Giacinto Scelsi, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage and music played in strip clubs. They looked for the natural and "identifiably human" sounds in the instrument, then altered the pitch or tempo of their recordings to make them feel "uncomfortable". [5] In an article for the Guardian, Levi wrote: "Some parts are intended to be quite difficult. If your life force is being distilled by an alien, it's not necessarily going to sound very nice. It's supposed to be physical, alarming, hot." [5]

According to Pitchfork, "the strings sometimes resemble nails going down a universe-sized chalkboard, screaming with a Ligeti-like sense of horror; elsewhere, they endlessly drone in a gaping vortex, like Vangelis' iconic Blade Runner score dipped in turpentine". [14] The Guardian wrote that Levi's "score brings together strings, percussion, distortions in speed and clashing microphones to create sounds that are seductive, perverted and compassionate." [12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Creation" 
2."Lipstick to Void"6:41
3."Andrew Void"2:14
4."Meat to Maths"2:00
5."Drift"6:58
6."Lonely Void"3:38
7."Mirror to Vortex"2:35
8."Bedroom"1:30
9."Love"5:10
10."Bothy"1:22
11."Death"4:39
12."Alien Loop"7:20
Total length:46:57

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
Consequence of Sound B+ [15]
Drowned in Sound 8/10 [16]
The Line of Best Fit 9/10 [17]
Pitchfork 7.3/10 [18]

Under the Skin's score received high critical acclaim with praise directed on Levi's instrumentation and minimalist approach. For the website AllMusic, Heather Phares called the score a "fantastic study in tension and terror" and an "exciting beginning to what will hopefully be a lengthy career for Levi as a solo artist and film composer". [3] In the review for Consequence.net, Michael Roffman called it as a "terrifying soundtrack" that mirrors to the music of Stanley Kubrick's films: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Shining (1980) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999), further writing that "The way Glazer wraps the score around every shot produces a tension that’s near suffocating." [15] Writing for the music website Drowned in Sound , Jon Clark called Levi's score "is as unique as the film itself, working as well in isolation as it accompaniment". [16]

For The Line of Best Fit , Kate Travers gave 9/10 to the soundtrack and said "The Under the Skin score matches Glazer’s understated, minimal aesthetic scene for scene. Never does the music outweigh the carefully constructed silences and – as all good film music must – it only ever adds to the potent illusion of a twisted, heart-rending reality." [17] Pitchfork gave 7.3 out of 10 to the score and stated "The music unfolds as deliberately and as unconsciously as the dreamlike film itself. Levi's commitment to the film's themes is all-consuming, and the score is so tightly woven into the film's DNA that it is difficult to detach and experience as an album." [18]

Several website listed it as one of the best scores of 2014, including Empire , [19] PopMatters , [20] IndieWire [21] and Collider . [22] Composer Mike Patton said the Under the Skin soundtrack was the only contemporary soundtrack that had left an impression on him, praising Levi's minimalist approach. [23] Musician Steven Wilson said Under the Skin was his favourite film of the last decade and praised its "absolutely brilliant" music. [24] In 2019, Pitchfork ranked the soundtrack the 154th best album of the 2010s, [25] the 18th greatest industrial album [26] and the second-best film score of all time. [27] IndieWire called it as "one of the best scores of the 21st century", [28] and Collider called it as "one of the five best film scores by alternative musicians" and wrote: [29]

"Levi’s score for Under the Skin serves as a reflection of the alien’s mindset; this means it’s cold, strange, and creepy as hell. “Creation” soundtracks the alien’s “birth” with a microtonal swarm of buzzing violas. The sinister “Lipstick to Void” lopes with the patience of an apex predator, its whining strings and steady heartbeat rhythm adding a note of uncomfortable sensuality. Most compelling of all is “Love”, a swooning, achingly tender synth reverie that represents the alien’s burgeoning humanity." [29]

Release history

RegionDate [lower-alpha 1] Format(s)LabelRef.
Worldwide28 March 2014 Rough Trade Records [4]
[6]
United States18 April 2014 CD [6]
United Kingdom
Europe2 May 2014
United States10 October 2014 Vinyl
12 June 2020Mondo
8 July 2022Juno [7]

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes [4]

Accolades

Under the Skin was not shortlisted for nominations at the 87th Academy Awards including Best Original Score for Mica Levi, as factors such as the box office failure, film festival release in 2013 before its final theatrical premiere in 2014, and non-contemporary narrative, being attributed, according to Entertainment Weekly. [10] The score, however, nominated for and won many awards in critics association and online pole votes. [8]

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef(s)
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards 9 March 2015Best Film Score Mica Levi Nominated [30]
British Academy Film Awards 8 February 2015 Best Original Music Nominated [31]
British Independent Film Awards 8 December 2013 Best Technical Achievement (music)Nominated [32]
Chicago Film Critics Association 15 December 2014 Best Original Score Won [33]
European Film Awards 13 December 2014 Best Composer Won [34]
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards 2015Best ScoreWon [35]
Florida Film Critics Circle 19 December 2014 Best ScoreWon [36]
Indiewire Film Critics' Poll15 December 2014Best Original Score or SoundtrackWon [37]
International Film Music Critics Association Awards 2015Breakthrough Composer of the YearWon [38]
Kermode Awards 2015Best Original ScoreWon [39]
London Film Critics Circle Awards 18 January 2015 Technical Achievement Award (score) Won [40]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 7 December 2014 Best Original Score Won [41]
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association 2014Best Music ScoreNominated [42]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association 8 December 2014 Best Original Score Won [43]

Notes

  1. ↑ All versions in United Kingdom and United States were released under the catalog code M2-36678, whereas the Europe release catalog code was 399 543-2

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References

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  2. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Under the Skin [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - Mica Levi". AllMusic . Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Under the Skin [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] at AllMusic (rating 5/5).
  4. 1 2 3 4 Under the Skin at Discogs (list of releases).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Levi, Mica (March 15, 2014). "How Mica Levi got Under The Skin of her first film soundtrack". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Mica Levi (2014), Under the Skin, archived from the original on June 8, 2022, retrieved June 8, 2022
  7. 1 2 "Mica Levi's Under The Skin soundtrack reissued on vinyl". The Vinyl Factory. April 28, 2022. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  8. 1 2 Hissong, Samantha (July 7, 2021). "The Engrossing, Psychedelic Sounds of Mica Levi". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Mica Levi's Intensely Unconventional Film Scores". The New Yorker. February 23, 2017. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  10. 1 2 February 03, rea Towers Updated; EST, 2015 at 12:00 PM. "Nominated For Nothing: 'Under The Skin'". EW.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  11. ↑ Lattanzio, Ryan (November 10, 2014). "Mica Levi on Why Composing 'Under the Skin' Was "Really Mental"". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  12. 1 2 Khomami, Nadia (December 27, 2014). "Making music for Scarlett: how an indie composer hit the big time". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Best Films of 2014". Film Ireland. December 23, 2014. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
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  15. 1 2 Roffman, Michael (April 25, 2014). "Mica Levi – Under the Skin OST". Consequence of Sound . Archived from the original on May 16, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
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  17. 1 2 Travers, Kate (March 23, 2014). "Mica Levi – Under The Skin OST". The Line of Best Fit . Archived from the original on February 3, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  18. 1 2 Greene, Jayson (April 17, 2014). "Mica Levi: Under the Skin OST Album Review". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  19. ↑ "2014 in movies: the 10 best soundtracks". Empire. Archived from the original on October 30, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
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  24. ↑ Acero, Fernando (June 16, 2016). "STEVEN WILSON "No creo que pueda hacer un disco mejor que Hand. Cannot. Erase."". Mondo Sonoro (in Spanish) (published June 16, 2016). Archived from the original on June 20, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  25. ↑ "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork . October 8, 2019. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  26. ↑ "The 33 Best Industrial Albums of All Time - Page 2". Pitchfork. June 17, 2019. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
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  29. 1 2 Hoeffner, Joe (January 26, 2022). "5 Film Scores by Alternative Musicians that Shook Things Up". Collider. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  30. ↑ Brosnan, Seán (February 27, 2015). "Irish composer Patrick Cassidy nominated for ASCAP Award for 'Calvary' score". Irish Film and Television Network. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  31. ↑ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (January 9, 2015). "Bafta nominations 2015: full house for Grand Budapest Hotel but Mr Turner and Selma snubbed". The Guardian . Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  32. ↑ Vincent, Alice (November 11, 2013). "British Independent Film Awards: Dame Judi Dench and Scarlett Johansson nominated". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  33. ↑ Erbland, Kate (December 16, 2014). "Roundup: Chicago Critics' awards, London Critics' Circle noms, and the IndieWire Year-End Critics Poll". The Dissolve . Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  34. ↑ Barraclough, Leo (December 13, 2014). "Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Ida' Wins Best Film at the European Film Awards". Variety . Archived from the original on June 8, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  35. ↑ Newton, Steve (January 15, 2015). "Screw the Oscars, here's the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards nominees". The Georgia Straight . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  36. ↑ Persall, Steve (December 19, 2014). "Florida Film Critics Circle picks winners". Tampa Bay Times . Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  37. ↑ Kohn, Eric (December 15, 2014). "Indiewire's Massive 2014 Year-End Critics Poll: Read the Full Results". Indiewire . Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  38. ↑ "IFMCA Award Winners 2014". International Film Music Critics Association . February 19, 2015. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  39. ↑ "The 2015 Kermode Awards Part 1". BBC Online . February 17, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  40. ↑ White, White (January 18, 2015). "Boyhood Takes Three At The London Critics' Circle Film Awards". Empire . Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  41. ↑ Bloom, David (December 7, 2014). "'Boyhood' Wins Best Picture, Three Other Awards From L.A. Film Critics". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  42. ↑ Tapley, Kristopher (December 11, 2014). "'Birdman,' 'Grand Budapest' lead St. Louis film critics nominations". hitFix . Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  43. ↑ Pond, Steve (December 16, 2014). "'Boyhood' Jumps Out to Big Lead in Critics' Awards". The Wrap . Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
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