Where the Crawdads Sing (soundtrack)
Where the Crawdads Sing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2022 film of the same name released on July 15, 2022 by Mercury Classics.[1] It features the original score composed by Canadian composer Mychael Danna, and an original song "Carolina" written and performed by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. According to Danna, the score's "unique instrumentation creates haunting melodies that are directly inspired by the North Carolina marshlands, and meticulously crafted to foster an almost fable-like sense of time and place".[2]
Where the Crawdads Sing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Release[edit]
The soundtrack featured an original song, "Carolina" written and performed by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song was used as snippets in the promotional trailers for the film,[6] and was released as a single on June 24, 2022 by Republic Records.[7][8] It was written for nearly one-and-a-half years, even before the film entered production, whereas much of the score has been recorded during post-production.[9] Swift said that she "got absolutely lost in [the book] when [she] read it years ago" and "wanted to create something haunting and ethereal" for the film when she heard it was being produced.[10] The song is played in the ending credits of the film.[7]
A snippet of the track "Am I Your Girlfriend Now?" was released through Deadline Hollywood on July 14, 2022,[2] and the full soundtrack was released along with the film, the following day.[11] It was released by Mercury Classics through its revamped label for releasing film scores and soundtracks, under the name Mercury Classics Soundtrack & Score, operated by Decca Records and Verve Label Group.[12][13] The label also released the soundtracks for Crimes of the Future and Rogue Agent.[12]
Reception[edit]
The score received generally positive reviews. Jonathan Broxton of Movie Music UK wrote, "the lack of strong thematic content beyond the main theme for Kya may result in some people dismissing it out of hand as being nothing but texture. Furthermore, an affinity for prominent country textures led by fiddles and banjos is also a requirement because the score is awash in them from start to finish. It may be that the score just happened to catch me in with the right mood, but whatever the case may be, Where the Crawdads Sing hit me right in the sweet spot, providing a slightly melancholy but wholly beautiful evocation of a unique place, and a unique girl at the center of a very traumatic story."[14]