Soundtrack Review: Bliss (2021)

Milan Records has released the Bliss (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with music by composer, multi-instrumentalist, and Fall On Your Sword founder Will Bates. Bliss is a mind-bending love story following Greg (Owen Wilson) who, after recently being divorced and then fired, meets the mysterious Isabel (Salma Hayek), a woman living on the streets and convinced that the polluted, broken world around them is just a computer simulation. Doubtful at first, Greg eventually discovers there may be some truth to Isabel’s wild conspiracy.

Will Bates is an award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist and founder of music production company Fall On Your Sword. He has composed original scores for a myriad of filmmakers including acclaimed directors Mike Cahill (Another Earth, I Origins), Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Zero Days), Ry Russo-Young (You Won’t Miss Me, Nobody Walks) and Fisher Stevens (Mission Blue, Bright Lights).

Of the soundtrack for Bliss, Will Bates had the following to say:

“Collaborating with Mike Cahill continues to be one of my greatest joys. He is a visionary, and he’s always pushing the boundaries of what is possible. There’s so much mutual trust when we work together. He has the ability of putting everyone he works with in this safe, magical environment that really encourages experimentation. I find myself being challenged in new ways and, despite having worked on so many projects together, it seems as if I’m always trying something new with him… The key was to find the tonal balance that the story has; this mind-bending almost absurdist reality against Greg’s heartbreaking journey. The scale of the movie let me really stretch the palette. Along with all sorts of mangled analogue synths, this was my first experience with a full orchestra, and also one that allowed me to dip into my background as a jazz saxophonist.”

Regarding “You and I,” he adds, “As we were nearing the end of the process, we had the idea of there being a song that melodically incorporated the love theme. I’ve known Skye Edwards for years, since my London days (my old band once opened for Morcheeba.) Mike and I agreed it just had to be her voice, so I wrote the song for her to sing. It was going to be just in the end credits, but when Mike heard it, he recut one of the other scenes in the movie and used it there too. As with so many projects in 2020, COVID caused a significant delay in the post-production process. But the song may not have happened without that delay.”

Listening to the soundtrack for Bliss is an experience, let me tell you. There’s this mixture of synthesized sound and orchestral sound that just pulls you in and keeps your attention once it gets going. I’ve heard music similar to this in other science-fiction soundtracks, especially with stories that blur the line between the “synthetic” and the “real,” but for the most part those soundtracks feature stories about robots. Bliss, on the other hand, involves a concept more similar to The Matrix (but kind of in reverse, since the “real” life is implied to be much better than the fake life).

There’s not much more I can say about the soundtrack for Bliss. It’s fun to listen to, but it doesn’t inspire many thoughts in me. That’s not a bad thing, some soundtracks are just like that.

BLISS (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)
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