Waves (soundtrack)

Waves (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
ReleasedDecember 6, 2019
Recorded2019
GenreFilm score
Length77:21
LabelThe Null Corporation
Producers
Trent Reznor chronology
Watchmen
(2019)		 Waves
(2019)		 Mank
(2020)
Atticus Ross chronology
Watchmen
(2019)		 Waves
(2019)		 Earthquake Bird
(2019)

Waves (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the 2019 film Waves directed by Trey Edward Shults starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., Taylor Russell, Lucas Hedges, Alexa Demie, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Sterling K. Brown. The original score is composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and released through The Null Corporation label on December 6, 2019.

Development

In July 2018, it was announced that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross would compose the score for Waves.[1][2][3][4] Initially, Brian McOmber who composed for Shults' previous films, declined his offer to score the film considering the use of several pre-existing songs that had been included in the script. However, Reznor contacted Shults via his agent through an email considering that he was a fan of his work and wanted to meet him. Accepting the offer, Shults met Reznor and Ross at a lunch in Los Angeles and sent him the script and despite the skepticism on the pre-recorded music, the musician duo agreed to score as they liked the script and it was "exciting and different" for the duo. Shults added that part of the score was feeling like the subconscious of the characters coming out and their music linking to their spirits which intrigued the composers on using the sonic landscape of the environment musically, like the voices of the kids, train sounds, wrestling and nature, and manipulating them and using it as music to combine with piano melodies.[5][6][7]

Release

The soundtrack to Waves was released through The Null Corporation label on December 6, 2019,[8][9] after being made available for premiere on the Nine Inch Nails online store, ten days earlier.[10][11]

Reception

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it "a wonderful score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross."[12] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com called it "a tension-raising score by Atticus Ross & Trent Reznor".[13] Markie Robson-Scott of The Arts Desk wrote "[the] wonderful score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross [is] blended with a soundtrack featuring songs by Frank Ocean, Animal Collective, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Amy Winehouse and others. And this wall-to-wall music, along with the pulsating, often abstract use of colour, makes the film an overpoweringly sensuous experience."[14]

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote "Shults clearly has his own ideas, using a stream of unexpected but meticulously chosen music tracks to communicate the emotional register throughout. At times, those cues — made seamless by composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“The Social Network”) — feel like one with the film’s sound design, echoing the buzz of a vibrating cellphone or a series of background beeps, whereas at others, they represent what words can’t convey."[15] Pamela Hutchinson of Sight and Sound wrote "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s excellent score, mostly pushed aside for a hip jukebox soundtrack, provides so much throbbing nervousness [...] It’s almost unbearable, as everything should be in this amped-up teen-melo mode."[16]

Alex Godfrey of Empire called it a "foreboding but fuzzy score".[17] Alison Willmore of Vulture described it as an "incredible, near wall-to-wall [...] score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross".[18] Adam White of The Independent called it a "characteristically jittery score".[19]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Everything Burns"1:05
2."Bad News"3:00
3."I'm Disappearing"5:04
4."Odds Against"5:15
5."Holding It Together"2:36
6."Feedback Loop"11:15
7."After the Fire"3:56
8."Nobody Home"3:04
9."The Light Shines Through"10:23
10."Forgetting"1:53
11."How to Begin?"0:52
12."Wounds Heal"22:30
13."Ties"2:12
14."Leaving Missouri"4:16
Total length:77:21

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Austin Film Critics Association February 7, 2020 Best Score Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Nominated [20]
Black Reel Awards February 6, 2020 Outstanding Original Score Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Nominated [21]
Hollywood Critics Association January 11, 2020 Best Score Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Nominated [22]
[23]
Motion Picture Sound Editors January 19, 2020 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Music Score for Feature Film Sally Boldt, Trey Edward Shults, Johnnie Burn Won [24]
St. Louis Film Critics Association December 15, 2019 Best Soundtrack Waves 2nd place [25]

References

  1. ↑ "Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross will score Waves film". Treble. July 3, 2018. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  2. ↑ Blais-Billie, Braudie (July 3, 2018). "Update: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Not Confirmed to Be Scoring New Musical Film Waves". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 27, 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  3. ↑ Kaufman, Gil (July 3, 2018). "Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross in Talks to Score Music Drama 'Waves'". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  4. ↑ Chitwood, Adam (July 3, 2018). "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to Score Musical Waves". Collider. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  5. ↑ Hicks, Luke (November 21, 2019). ""Godspeed": Trey Edward Shults On WAVES, His Most Personal Film Yet". Birth.Movies.Death. Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ Abrams, Bryan (November 21, 2019). "Waves Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults & Stars Kelvin Harrison & Taylor Russell on Their Powerful Drama". Motion Picture Association. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  7. ↑ Pitre, Jake (December 20, 2019). "Trent Reznor's Music Was the Perfect Soundtrack to the Dark, Disorienting 2010s". Vice. Archived from the original on August 26, 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  8. ↑ Neale, Matthew (December 15, 2019). "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' release 'Waves' score, detail third 'Watchmen' OST". NME. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  9. ↑ Young, Alex (December 14, 2019). "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Reveal Film Score for Waves: Stream". Consequence. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  10. ↑ "WAVES (ORIGINAL SCORE) - Nine Inch Nails". Nine Inch Nails. November 26, 2019. Archived from the original on March 7, 2026. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  11. ↑ Trapp, Philip (November 27, 2019). "Trent Reznor + Atticus Ross Issue New 'Watchmen' + 'Waves' Scores". Loudwire. Archived from the original on May 17, 2026. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  12. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (January 16, 2020). "Waves review – high-school sports star wrestles with his emotions". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on December 25, 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  13. ↑ Tallerico, Brian (November 15, 2019). "Waves movie review & film summary". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  14. ↑ Robson-Scott, Markie (January 17, 2020). "Waves review - pulsating, rapturous, devastating". The Arts Desk. Archived from the original on January 18, 2026. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  15. ↑ Debruge, Peter (August 31, 2019). "Film Review: 'Waves'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 8, 2026. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  16. ↑ Hutchinson, Pamela (January 16, 2020). "Waves review: a fast and furious teen melodrama". Sight and Sound. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 11, 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  17. ↑ Godfrey, Alex (January 13, 2020). "Waves". Empire. Archived from the original on November 21, 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  18. ↑ Willmore, Alison (November 15, 2019). "Waves Is Gorgeous and Frustrating — Great Soundtrack, Though". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  19. ↑ White, Adam (January 16, 2020). "Waves is a family drama that is all dazzle and no thought – review". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 22, 2026. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  20. ↑ Whittaker, Richard (January 7, 2020). "Austin Film Critics Association Announces 2019 Awards". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  21. ↑ Morales, Wilson (December 11, 2019). "20th Annual Black Reel Awards - Nominees Announced". Black Film. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ Neglia, Matt (November 25, 2019). "The 2019 Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Full Winners List From The 2020 Hollywood Critics Association Awards". Hollywood Critics Association. January 11, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  24. ↑ "67th Annual MPSE Golden Reel Awards". mpse.org. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  25. ↑ "The 2019 St. Louis Film Critics Association (StLFCA) Winners". Next Best Picture. December 15, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
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