Wave Theory Records has digitally released the Original Soundtrack to the Sundance-nominated documentary film Westwood: Punk. Icon. Activist., a Finished Films production directed by Lorna Tucker about the life and work of DameVivienne Westwood. The album features an original score by BAFTA- and triple Ivor Novello Award– winning, and double Emmy-nominated composer Dan Jones, in addition to specially recorded classical works by Mozart and Purcell.
Chronicling the colourful life of one of the world’s best-known fashion designers, Westwood: Punk. Icon. Activist. explores, as husband Andreas Kronthaler puts it, “Vivienne the designer, Vivienne the campaigner and then Vivienne the person”.
The documentary is the feature-length debut for model-turned-director Lorna Tucker who, as a long time associate of Vivienne Westwood, gained a unique and privileged insight into one of the world’s most mysterious designers. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival 2018 and features appearances from Kate Moss, Pamela Anderson and Naomi Campbell.
The film’s score is the latest in a long-running collaboration between composer Dan Jones and award-winning editor Paul Carlin (Turn It Loose, The Death Train), with previous projects including Louis Theroux‘s My Scientology Movie, which won Best Film at the NME Awards and garnered Jones an Ivor Novello Outstanding Film Score nomination, and The Spectre of Hope (directed by Carlin), which recounts the life of legendary photographer Sebastião Salgado.
The music is inspired by the chaotic world of fashion, and drawing on the forces of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, pianist Paul Israel, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and renowned guitarist John Parricelli, combines works of the great masters with an iconoclastic score by Dan Jones.
One of the architects of the Punk movement, and once seen as a potent threat to the British Establishment, Vivienne Westwood has become one of the most powerful and pervasive influences in High Fashion. This soundtrack is an eclectic, quirky and compassionate blend of diverse styles, inspired in equal measure by Vivienne Westwood’s irreverence, conscientiousness and insatiable energy.
Composer Dan Jones added: “I have huge admiration for Vivienne Westwood. She’s never compromised her vision, even when that’s been a difficult journey. She’s a natural pioneer and an iconoclast, at times ostentatious and at others utterly elusive, and I found all that very inspiring when creating the score for Lorna’s film.”
ABOUT WESTWOOD: PUNK. ICON. ACTIVIST.
Since igniting the punk movement with ex-partner and Sex Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren, Dame Vivienne Westwood has been redefining British fashion for over 40 years and is responsible for creating many of the most distinctive looks of recent time. Blending archival footage and insightful interviews a portrait emerges of Vivienne’s fascinating network of collaborators, taking viewers on her journey — from a childhood in postwar Derbyshire to the runways of Paris and Milan.
ABOUT DAN JONES
Dan Jones is a BAFTA award-winning composer whose scores includeAny Human Heart (Ivor Novello and BAFTA awards for Best Score, Emmy nominations for Best Title Music and Best Score), Lady Macbeth (World Soundtrack and Music and Sound awards nominee), The Miniaturist (Ivor Novello Award Best Television Score), World On Fire, SS-GB (Ivor Novello and RTS Award nominations), The Hollow Crown and David Attenborough’sThe Life of Mammals. As well as scoring film and television movies he composes and sound designs for theatre, including work for the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre and and large scale sound artworks including Music for Seven Ice Cream Vans and Sky Orchestra. A sometime collaborator with Massive Attack, Dan was included in the lineup for the PRS Foundation New Music Biennial 2019. Other cinematic work includes Max (Ivor Novello Award Best Film Score), Shadow of the Vampire and Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie(Ivor Novello Award nominee Best Film Score). He jointly directs Sound and Fury Theatre Company whose productions include Charlie Ward, Going Dark and Kursk (Best Sound Design Prague Quadrennial 2011).
ABOUT WAVE THEORY RECORDS
Wave Theory Records is a small label based in Bristol, England with a particular interest in film scores. It was set up three years ago, by BAFTA-winning and double Emmy-nominated composer Dan Jones to release some of his own scores, but has since expanded to champion the music of both up-and-coming film composers and veterans alike.
In 2018, it released its first classical album, Four Women, celebrating the piano music of four under-appreciated female composers, while in May 2020 it released the critically-acclaimed score to the British crime thriller Villain by debutant composer-duo Aaron May and David Ridley.
Wave Theory Records aspires to see things from a composer’s point of view, as it is run for composers by composers. Later this year, it has exciting plans to announce a series of OST releases for films made by a giant of American cinema.
TRACKLIST
1. Just Get It Over With (1:51)
2. Cavatina (1:30)
3. Purcell: Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary: II. March (Arr. for Brass Quintet) (1:54)
4. Malcolm McLaren (1:54)
5. Nostalgia (3:15)
6. The Split (1:29)
7. Sleeping On Leopard Fur (3:29)
8. Viaggio in Italia (2:28)
9. Life Goes On (2:14)
10. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, K. 41: II. Andante (Excerpts) (2:22)
11. Late Recognition (2:38)
12. Total Control (2:31)
13. Unstoppable (1:45)
