Mad Max Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road - Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL)

He should have stopped for directions at that gas station back there.

What You Will Hear: Heavy low end synth and pounding percussion. Not a lot of melodic development, but interesting instrumentation and synth is all over the place.
Standout Tracks: Storm Is Coming, Brothers In Arms, Many Mothers
Will you be humming along? Probably not, but there is a spine tingling motif that shows up quite often. (A repeated descending chromatic line.)
The score this makes me want to dust off: The Dark Knight – Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Will I come back to it? Yes (for the most part). This entire score is consistently intense. Aggressive or romantic, it does not let up. Some of the action sequences are a little overbearing during a stand alone listening experience. But, the music sounds like it will serve as a uniquely perfect companion for the insane images on screen. Some of the synth strings sound a little too “Smallville-ish” for a major release, but that is just a personal pet peeve. Pay special attention to “Many Mothers.” Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, makes a statement there. This is beautiful composing. I don’t think it is a coincidence that he is credited using his real name on this album. With each new release, Holkenborg is further cementing his place as a major player in the film score world. In a few years, film and Holkenborg fans alike will be asking, “Junkie… who?”