Uncut Gems is a soundtrack album by electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, containing the original score for the Safdie brothers' 2019 film Uncut Gems.[1] It was released via Warp on December 13, 2019.[2] It received positive reviews from critics.[3] It peaked at number 44 on the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart.[4]
Background
Film co-director Josh Safdie worked closely with Lopatin on the score, which began with a "Frankenstein" score using library and new-age music before Lopatin began sketching out compositions.[5] Safdie described the soundtrack as "a medicinal new-age soul of a film," in contrast to the "pulse" of their previous collaboration Good Time.[5] Lopatin described it as "more beautiful, ethereal, it's more orchestral, it's goofier."[5]
The "cosmically synthesized" score uses a Moog One synthesizer, and draws inspiration from artists such as Isao Tomita, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis,[6] as well as the 1970s-80s new-age duo Emerald Web.[5] Lopatin and Safdie used Moog's synthesizer library and Omnisphere to search for "earthy melancholic sounds that had a cosmic twist," as well as saxophone and a choir.[5] The track "Fuck You, Howard" is a reinterpretation of Haydn's Symphony No. 88,[5] while "Windows" is a homage to "Kaneda's theme" from the anime film Akira.[7]
At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 6 mainstream critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]
Thomas Johnson of The Line of Best Fit called the album "further proof Lopatin will be held in the same esteem as Ennio Morricone, John Carpenter, Vangelis and so on."[10] He stated that the album is "filled with heartfelt synth lines, gorgeous revolving, spacey sequences and emotive samples" in contrast to his narrower score for Good Time.[10] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian wrote that "lesser composers try to merely mirror the action on screen and intensify it, boringly magnifying your emotions."[9] He added, "Lopatin is showing how contradictory, confusing and vital our dumb human impulses are."[9] Mina Tavakoli of Pitchfork stated that the score "has a large blast radius in the movie, itself a funny character in an ensemble of unintentionally funny characters."[11] Matthew Clark of Exclaim! wrote: "Not only does this collection of music have a cinematic quality that lends it its soundtrack purpose, it also stands alone as an engaging set of songs and motifs on their own."[8]
