Lakeshore Records will release The Nice Guys – Original Motion Picture Score digitally on May 27 and on CD June 24, 2016. The album features original music from composers John Ottman and David Buckley.
To write the music for the duo of the main characters, director Shane Black and producer Joel Silver put together the dream team of composers John Ottman and David Buckley. "Joel called me before shooting began, asking for a theme that reminded us of classic cop or spy 70s TV shows and movies," said Ottman. "I wrote a balls-out theme for full orchestra, but the challenge for David Buckley and me was adapting the theme into a score that kept the film fun and quirky without feeling too silly."
"We found there was a fine line between period accuracy and a descent into joke territory," Buckley added. "We had some great players on kit, guitar, bass, keys and horns who really helped add a sense of authenticity to the score. These guys, alongside a full orchestra, gave us full range to go between big action set pieces to more intimate emotional cues."
The Nice Guys was the first time that Ottman and Buckley worked together. Regarding the main theme, Ottman said, "It's not too long before Healy and March meet up in the film, so it made sense for the 'Nice Guys theme' to encompass them as a duo and to write different renditions of the theme when they're together as much as possible."
"We worked in our own studios and then chatted on the phone each night about what was working and what wasn't," Buckley described. "The direction took a few twists and turns along the way but ultimately ended up with our initial musical instincts intact!"
The Nice Guys will be in theaters May 20, 2016.