announcing ... The Legend of Ochi Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
out april 25th, 2025
in the midst of the release of one world-sized album (song of the earth), it feels wild to announce another. and yet: my soundtrack for the a24 film the legend of ochi will be out in eleven days — april 25, 2025!
i’d never scored a film before i began this one in the late summer of 2021. through his vision and openness and curiosity and tenacity, my friend the director isaiah saxon led me by the hand (and sometimes the ear) through what has been in some ways the closest collaboration of my life so far.
this moment is years in the making. the score was honestly a massive undertaking. from my earliest convos with isaiah, he wanted a big orchestral sound. in the end, we’ve got: two orchestras — synchonstage in vienna and fames in north macedonia! extensive chamber ensembles — winds, strings & choir — of the best in los angeles! and several incredible soloists, including master flautist alex sopp, cimbalom wunderkind cory beers, horn whisperer cj camerieri & romanian panflute virtuoso radu nechifor.
for me there’s a nice irony in putting the musical language of hollywood’s golden age in service of a very contemporary ecological fable. using this very adult, stately, muscular old style to tell a story centered around the relationship of a teenage girl and a mystical primate. and finding — in that goldilocks zone where the hotness of big beautiful melody coexists with the cool of densely textural, expressionistic orchestration — the vocabulary to describe an island people and the delicate web of interrelated natural systems upon which they depend.
so much more to say about this score (!!) but for now i’d like to just put some attention on the first three cues, released last week:
‘prelude’ opens the film, the first statement of a melody that recurs through the story many times, many ways.
‘the pond’ is maybe my favorite cue, a little reverie of wood block, harp, pan flute and feather-light orchestral strings.
i think of ‘the river’ as the prelude to act 3, opening the final action of the film with something beautiful — and dangerous.
please enjoy! also gotta say — yes, i was involved in it, so i’m biased. but, man, seeing the blood, sweat and tears — and years — that went into this thing … i feel like they kinda don’t make ‘em like this anymore? if it seems remotely up your alley, please go to the theater and see this movie. the legend of ochi opens in NY & LA this weekend (4/18) and wide release the next (4/25). i don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
til soon,
d
Beautiful. Love that last one.