Apple Music, in partnership with Paramount Music, today released composer Nathan Lanier's soundtrack to Home Before Dark, a new Apple Original series debuting globally today on Apple TV+. The soundtrack captures the essence of a 1980's-era orchestral score with a modern hybrid twist and features an overall air of childlike wonderment tempered by foreboding darkness.
In searching for the sound of the show, Lanier experimented with instrumentation that would lend itself to the suspenseful aspect of the series in a distinctive way. He ended up discovering the Array Mbira, a hand-crafted modernized version of an ancient musical instrument that is like a mini piano but instead of keys has metal prongs that you pluck. The mysterious percussive and harp-like sound can be heard throughout the score including in the main theme of the opening titles.
Said Lanier, "It was important to me that the music in Home Before Dark empower children and give them a voice. So the showrunners and I decided to literally give them a voice by including a youth choir as a featured part of the score. The kid's performance brought such an emotional honesty to the music."
Home Before Dark is a dramatic mystery series inspired by the reporting of a young investigative journalist, Hilde Lysiak. Directed and executive produced by Jon M. Chu, the series follows a young girl named Hilde (played by Brooklynn Prince) who moves from the city of Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father left behind. While there, her dogged pursuit of the truth leads her to unearth a cold case that everyone in town, including her own father, tried hard to bury. Hailing from Paramount Television Studios and Anonymous Content, the series is created and executive produced by showrunners Dana Fox and Dara Resnik; written and executive produced by Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner; and executive produced by Joy Gorman Wettels for Anonymous Content, Rosemary Rodriguez and Sharlene Martin.
Lanier previously worked with Jon M. Chu on projects like Jem and the Holograms and Justin Bieber's Believe, among others.