Sony Classical and Sony Masterworks announce the April 18 release of the Original Score and Original Soundtrack albums from writer/director/producer Ryan Coogler's new film Sinners, with music and production by Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson. Having previously collaborated on Coogler's blockbuster franchises Black Panther and Creed, Göransson delivers two complex musical narratives that pulse through the director's thrilling, genre-bending original concept set in the Mississippi Delta in 1932.
At the heart of both the songs and score lives a 1932 Dobro resonator guitar. "Why You Here / Before the Sun Went Down," the score's lead single, is a tender love ballad that slowly grows from tentative strings and impassioned guitar plucks into rich, complex orchestrations and vocalizations by one of the film's stars, Miles Caton. Listen to the song here.
In addition to the film's Original Score, Göransson produced an album of original songs and recordings that further the film's music story with collaborators including Rod Wave, James Blake, Don Toliver, Brittany Howard, Raphael Saadiq, Buddy Guy, Rhiannon Giddens, Cedric Burnside, Eric Gales, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Jerry Cantrell, Lola Kirke, Peter Dreams, Bobby Rush, OG DAYV, Jack O'Connell, Sharde Thomas-Mallory and more.
"I never imagined I'd score a film about a guitar player - it hits close to home," said Göransson. "My dad, a guitar teacher at the local school and a die-hard blues fanatic, put a guitar in my hands when I was six. If it were up to him, I'd be named Albert for Albert King, the legendary guitarist. The score I composed for Sinners is the most personal of my career. It's a reflection of my own musical journey, told through the voice of the instrument that means the most to me. I perform it on a 1932 Dobro Cyclops resonator- the very same guitar that Preacherboy Sammie carries throughout the film.
I grew up with this music in my ear - but as I spent time in the Delta, digging into the roots of the blues and the people who shaped it, I realized I'd only been scratching the surface. The fingerprints of the blues are present in virtually all popular music that has existed since, and we wanted the music of Sinners to reflect that. Beyond feeling raw and lived in, we wanted it to be firmly rooted in its true origin story. We weren't aiming for nostalgia; we wanted it to feel immediate. Much of the music was written and recorded on set during the shoot, with the cast and crew working alongside us. That process gave the film a sound that's connected to the past, alive in the moment. This is the music story of Sinners."
Executive produced by Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler, and Serena Göransson, the Original Soundtrack was introduced this past Friday with the lead single "Sinners" by multi-platinum Rap/R&B powerhouse Rod Wave. Having amassed a staggering eight billion streams in the past year alone and five consecutive albums debuting at #1 on the Billboard Rap Albums chart, Rod Wave was inspired to write the song after watching the film at filmmaker Ryan Coogler's special request. The song is accompanied by a new music video directed by the Coogler Brothers (Ryan Coogler, Noah Coogler and Keenan Coogler).