Vocalist PJ Harvey and composer Tim Phillips, credited on numerous popular tv shows such as Shameless and Entourage, have just shared the series soundtrack to Apple TV+’s newest tv show, Bad Sisters. Featuring 11 original songs and covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Who by Fire” and the traditional American folk song “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” this 13-track OST reflects the tone and the theme of the show completely. A story that “follows a group of sisters as they grieve a family member’s death while hoping to dodge investigators from a life insurance policy,” composer Phillips wrote that “Bad Sisters needed to have its roots in an earthy, feminine place and also to show heart, humor, mystery and suspense. We decided that central to this should be the use of PJ’s vocals, so we devised a novel method of working: We created a vast sample library of her singing all sorts of different things such as howls, whoops, cackles, whispers, scales of notes, quarter-tone note bends, vocal slides between notes, and specially assembled melodic lines of public domain Irish poetry. We built it into a massive sample instrument so her voice would be available on demand for the scoring of the production. It was then put through a variety of sonic treatments to turn her voice into a very flexible sonic texture, sometimes heard singing words, sometimes as an instrument in the ensemble” (Consequence Sound.)
When asked about the creative process, PJ Harvey discussed the cacophony of sounds the pair called “The Pollytron” based on Harvey’s first name Polly, claiming that Tim Phillips was truly the mastermind and creative genius behind the soundtrack’s creation. She said that “I loved working with Tim, who was well prepared and knew exactly what he needed from me in order to create the sound he was hearing in his head. My job was to get it all done and spent a full day providing him with all manner of curious and other-worldly vocal expressions. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a full vocal workout. I think it is magical how Tim has used our created instrument, affectionately known as ‘The Pollytron,’ in order to access the perfect emotional soundscape for this unique series.”
PJ Harvey will also release a box set on November 4th called B-Sides, Demos & Rarities featuring songs spanning his entire career.
Check out the full soundtrack for Apple TV+’s series Bad Sisters below.
Tracklist:
1) Who by Fire
2) Dark Side of the Moon
3) They Did It
4) Pick Up, Pick Up
5) Cellar
6) Shitty Volvo
7) I Don’t Need Luck
8) Execution
9) Barmaid Got It Wrong
10) Back to the Boat
11) Drugging the Prick
12) Target Practice and Accident – You Can’t Thank Me
12) Run On
Listen to PJ Harvey and Tim Phillips’ cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire,” featured on the Bad Sisters soundtrack, here.
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