Original Music By Nicholas Britell
Sony Classical will release the FREE STATE OF JONES – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally and on CD June 24, 2016. The album features the film’s original score by Nicholas Britell (THE BIG SHORT, A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS).
Directed by four-time Oscar® nominee Gary Ross (The Hunger Games, Seabiscuit, Pleasantville), and starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey, Free State of Jones is an epic action-drama set during the Civil War, and tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy.
Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.
Director Gary Ross, editor Juliette Welfling, and Britell worked very closely together to determine the musical approach to each scene. Britell used a string ensemble with added mandolin, trumpet, guitars, banjo, piano, and percussion. “We created a sound palette drawn primarily from instruments of the era; our attempt was to craft a musical landscape which felt almost like an ethereal civil war band. With all the sounds, we produced and recorded them in such a way to form a unique character for the overall musical atmosphere of the film,” explained Britell
Nicholas Britell is an award-winning composer, pianist, and producer. In 2015, Britell composed the score for
Adam McKay’s Oscar-nominated film THE BIG SHORT, based on Michael Lewis’ book about the housing and credit bubbles of the 2000’s and the subsequent 2008 financial crisis. His music is featured prominently in director
Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning film 12 YEARS A SLAVE, for which he composed and arranged the on-camera music including the violin performances, spiritual songs, work songs, and dances. Britell also composed the score for Natalie Portman’s directorial debut feature film A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS which was selected for a special screening at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Britell’s work and projects have been highlighted in publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York
Times, New York Magazine, and Vogue, which called him among “the most talented young artists at work.” He was awarded the Henry Mancini Fellowship from the ASCAP Foundation in December 2012 and also won the ASCAP/Doddle Award for Collaborative Achievement. Britell is a Founding Member of L.A. Dance Project and is a Board member of the New York-based ensemble Decoda, the first-ever affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall. As a pianist, for the past five years, he has been performing as part of the critically-acclaimed “Portals” project with violin virtuoso Tim Fain. He produced the short film WHIPLASH, directed by Damien Chazelle, and subsequently co-produced the Oscar-winning feature film WHIPLASH.
TRACKLIST
1. Battle of Corinth
2. Taking Daniel Home
3. They Took Everything
4. Piney Woods Swamp
5. Finding Home
6. July 1863 / Loyalty Oath
7. Perfect Charity
8. Resistance
9. The Letter
10. Let There be Light
11. Hanging the Deserters
12. Killing the Colonel
13. The Free State of Jones
14. Reconstruction
15. Voter Suppression
16. John Madison Knight
17. Postlude
18. I’m Crying (feat. Lucinda Williams)
