Lakeshore Records will release The Handmaid's Tale - Original HULU Series Soundtrack digitally on May 5, 2017. The album features the series' original score by composer Adam Taylor.
"In creating the score for The Handmaid's Tale, I recalled a conversation with series creator Bruce Miller where he describes a world which is dark, but hopeful," said Taylor. "That description shaped how I approached the creation of a theme that would emotionally connect the audience to the various systems at play in the series."
The Handmaid's Tale was created, written and executive produced by Bruce Miller and executive produced by Warren Littlefield, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears and Ilene Chaiken. The Handmaid's Tale is produced by MGM Television and internationally distributed by MGM.
"The systems are the antagonist of the series, a relentless and indifferent force that is slowly disfiguring society and the inhabitants of Gilead," Taylor explained. "I thought about it like waves of sound, waves that slowly grew in volume and dissonance until it overcame the senses. This led to what we landed on as the opening theme, and also how we approached the dynamics and shaping of the orchestral elements of the score."
Taylor continued, "We knew from the start that we wanted to use classical instruments, as well as synths and atonal elements. One idea for the score was to reiterate sounds and instruments through processes that would create a loss in fidelity, like a poor quality photocopy... much like how life in Gilead was a distorted replica of normal life." He experimented with an old tape echo to achieve this sound. "I went as far as tracking an instrument, then changing the speed of the tape to 'fake' melodic changes. It took some time to get right, but was worth it in the end – and ended up being crucial to making, what was essentially a two-note theme, sound emotive and interesting."