Motown Records will release a soundtrack album for the Amazon anthology films series Small Axe. The album features selections of the original score from the movies composed by Mica Levi (Jackie, Under the Skin, Monos), as well as several songs from the series, including two exclusive tracks: Michael Kiwanuka’s rendition of the Nina Simone’s To Be Young, Gifted And Black and Tiana Major9’s cover of Janet Kay’s Silly Games. Also included are spoken word pieces written by poet Linton Kwesi Johnson and performed by himself and cast members Sheyi Cole, Rochenda Sandall, and Shaun Parkes. The soundtrack will be released digitally on June 11 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. A limited edition vinyl edition will be coming out the following day, on Record Store Day, Saturday, June 12.
Tag: Small Axe
Weekly TV Music Roundup (November 15, 2020)
Premiering tonight is the Showtime docu-series The Reagans directed and executive produced by Matt Tyrnauer about the rise and reign of America’s ultimate power couple, Ronald & Nancy Reagan. The show’s original music is composed by Lorne Balfe (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, The LEGO Batman Movie, His Dark Materials, The Crown, Home, Bad Boys for Life) who previously scored Tyrnauer’s features Studio 54 and Where’s My Roy Cohn?. Check out our previous news article to learn more about the 4-part series, which will air Sunday nights on Showtime.
Premiering on Wednesday, November 18, is the documentary Crazy, Not Insane directed and produced by Alex Gibney about Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a psychiatrist who has dedicated her career to studying murderers and seeking answers as to why people kill. Will Bates (Unbelievable, Away, I Origins, The Magicians, The Looming Tower, Nightflyers) who has previously scored numerous of Gibney’s documentaries has composed the film’s original music. The movie, which premiered at this year’s Copenhagen International Documentary Festival and also screened at the 2020 Venice Film Festival will debut in the U.S. exclusively on HBO and HBO Max.
Mica Levi Scoring Steve McQueen’s ‘Lovers Rock’
Mica Levi (Under the Skin, Jackie, Monos) has composed the original music for the drama Lovers Rock. The film is directed by Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame, Widows) as part of his anthology series Small Axe and stars Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, Micheal Ward, Francis Lovehall, Shaniqua Okwok, Ellis George, Kadeem Ramsay, Daniel Francis-Swaby, Kedar Williams-Stirling and Joshua Vine. The movie takes place during a blues party in the early 1980s and tells a story of young love. McQueen also co-wrote the script with Courttia Newland. Levi has also composed the original score for the other installments in the Small Axe series.