Hear ‘Westworld’ Soundtrack With Radiohead, Rolling Stones Covers
The soundtrack for Season One of HBO’s Westworld has been released. The 34-song compilation, Westworld: Season 1 (Music From the HBO Series), includes original music by composer Ramin Djawadi along with his covers of Radiohead, the Rolling Stones, the Cure, Amy Winehouse and others.
As Pitchfork reports, the set includes previously released covers of Soundgarden, the Rolling Stones and the Cure, which appear on an EP featuring selections from the series. A reworking of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” hails from the EP as well and the new soundtrack also features Djawadi’s interpretations of “Motion Picture Soundtrack,” “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Exit Music (For a Film).” Other covers include Nine Inch Nails‘ “Something I Can Never Have,” Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun.”
In the sci-fi western series, an old-time player piano plays modern songs, which are featured in the soundtrack. “What I love about that is it just comes out of nowhere and you don’t expect it at all,” Djawadi, who also scores Game of Thrones, said in an interview with Pitchfork. “You see the settings and the way people are dressed and even though you know it’s robots and it’s all made to be modern entertainment, you would think the people in control would make everything authentic, including whatever is being played on the piano.
“It would be from that time period. And when it’s not, it’s that subtle reminder that, ‘Wait, there is something not right. This is not real,'” he continued. “It’s such a powerful tool that music can do.”
Westworld wrapped its first season on Sunday. As Deadline points out, the series has been renewed for another 10 episodes and will return either in late 2017 or the first half of 2018.