Today, Milan Records releases the soundtrack by Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers to Mussolini: Son of the Century, an eight-part series on the rise to power in Italy of the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945). Directed by BAFTA-winning Joe Wright and starring Shooting Stars Award-winning actor, Luca Marinelli, the series is produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli for The Apartment, a Fremantle group company, in co-production with Pathé, in association with Small Forward Productions, in collaboration with Fremantle, CINECITTÀ S.p.A., and Sky.
From the 2018 bestselling Premio Strega-Winning Novel by Antonio Scurati, the series tells the history of a country that surrendered to dictatorship and the story of the political rise of the man who founded Fascism and was the leader of Italy from 1922-1943. It will provide viewers with an insight into Mussolini's life and his political and personal relationships.
Tom Rowlands is one half of the globally renowned electronic act The Chemical Brothers and a composer and producer in his own right.
In the thirty years since the release of The Chemical Brothers hugely acclaimed debut album Exit Planet Dust, the band have won six Grammys as well as multiple Brits, MTV and NME awards. Their music has featured on hundreds of film and TV soundtracks and Tom has been involved in creating original music specifically for movies such as Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. Tom's groundbreaking music for Joe Wright's forthcoming eight part series Mussolini: Son of the Century is the latest in a series of collaborations that include the award winning soundtrack to his 2011 film Hanna and the evolving music for his 2017 theatre production The Life of Galileo.
Says Tom Rowlands of working on the soundtrack to Mussolini: Son of the Century and with director, Joe Wright: "I really enjoy working with Joe, he's an incredible director. He is a master of his craft and to bring his vision to life through music is always an exciting challenge. A lot of this original soundtrack was built around playing old acoustic instruments using modern electronics; working in that way helped me reference the past yet still create something fresh and dynamic".