Out in theaters today is Pearl, the prequel to Ti West’s X, and along with the film officially hitting theaters, the first song from the film’s soundtrack has been released online. From A24 Films, both X and Pearl are some of the more ambitious projects the studio has developed, as X was initially conceived as a standalone effort, though while quarantining to shoot the film, West and star Mia Goth collaborated so heavily on the Pearl character’s backstory that they wrote a script and shot the Pearl prequel in secret. Tyler Bates crafted the scores for both films, both of them requiring a different skill set to match the different tones of the films, with Pearl seeing him enlist the help of Tim Williams. You can listen to the film’s main title track here before the score officially hits digital platforms on September 23rd.
With only six weeks to assemble a 68-person orchestra, Bates brought in frequent collaborator Timothy Williams, who worked with the composer on Guardians of the Galaxy, to help him audition musicians, build the orchestra, rehearse over four days in Nashville, and record the score.
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“In the style of mid-century melodramas,” West shared in a statement. “Tyler Bates fashioned a sweeping, shrieking, strings-based score that lets the viewer know from the opening credits that Pearl will not be a subdued or quiet film. I said to him, ‘Let’s do a romantic, melodramatic, old-school score for this movie.’”
He continued, “This wasn’t the first time I’ve used live instruments on a movie — but it was the first time I had a full orchestra. It was awesome. Tyler and Tim really hit it out of the park. The score is very much one of the film’s central characters, and that was important.”
“Ti expressed the musical approach to this film with us before filming,” Bates & Williams shared. “We knew that the music would be based in an ‘Old Hollywood’ approach, which stylistically is something we both love to do. This was a rare opportunity to write a lyrical score where the main theme permeates the music throughout the myriad emotional and psychological dynamics from beginning to end.”
The film is described, “Filmmaker Ti West returns with another chapter from the twisted world of X, in this astonishing follow-up to the year’s most acclaimed horror film. Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl finds her ambitions, temptations, and repressions all colliding in this stunning, technicolor-inspired origin story of X‘s iconic villain.”
You can listen to the film’s main title track here before the score officially hits digital platforms on September 23rd. Pearl is in theaters now.
Will you be picking up the film’s score? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
