Southpaw - James Horner

7/3/15

Can he body double for me in real life?

What You Will Hear:  Lots of ambient strings and synth.  Horner’s perpetual piano.  Horner’s clicking claves.

Standout Tracks:  House Auction, A Long Road Back, How Much They Miss Her, Hope vs. Escobar

Will You Be Humming Along?  No melody to be found.

The score this makes me want to dust off:  Honestly, my ear was so thrown off... I've got nothing.

Will I come back to it?  I’ve never heard a Horner score like this before.  I’m pretty sure nothing like Southpaw exists in his library.  It is grinding and often dissonant.  Even the softer piano moments never sound completely settled.  The effected synth is omnipresent and keeps this entire score on edge.  The (I'm assuming) final bout of the film is an almost nine minute Remote Control oddity.  I liked it, but am still surprised it came from this composer.  I’m incredibly impressed by Horner’s ability to put something like this together, especially after living so long in his established soundscape.  He knew it was going to be something different, saying: "It's just a movie I've never done before. I thought it would be really challenging.  It'll be really edgy, but it will be very simple.  No big orchestras."  The movie’s plot makes this unusual score very understandable, but it just does not lend itself to standalone listening.  While I won't be returning to it, I applaud James Horner for tackling something new, and getting it so right for the film.

Southpaw was provided courtesy of Krakower Poling PR and Sony Classical.  Thank you!

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