Music Is One Of The Biggest Stars Of ‘White Lotus Season 2 — Which Is About To Get ‘Dark And Messed Up

HBO's White Lotus is full of charming characters and building tension, making season 2 another great show. But it's not just what we see on screen that makes writer-director Mike White's trip to Italy so fascinating, it's what we hear. And this year, the original soundtrack plays an even bigger role through both the compositions and the new cast of characters.

“It's not like background music,” Emmy-winning composer Cristóbal Tapia de Vir says ahead of the fourth episode. "The way they use the music is they really push the music like it's another character on the show."

From the outset, the new and improved title track, "Rebirth," is a hypnotic techno variation on that unforgettable melodic, lyrical vocal riff from last season's opening credits, "Aloha!" — sets the stage for the chaos to come: a week on the beautiful Sicilian coast marked by the death of three people.

Who dies and who is alone are central questions from the outset, prompting audiences to pay close attention to all the conflicts between characters throughout the seven-episode story. The new theme, aided by wild backgrounds depicting destruction, debauchery and death, suggests that at least some of the relationships that have arrived by boat are about to ignite. And when that pace slows, we know those fires erupting from the depths of human frailty will unleash a great celebration.

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"It's a long time compared to last season," Weir said. “I really wasn't expecting that. The last couple of episodes take on completely dark and unexpected aspects. It's like, 'Oh my God!' When I saw the last episode, I told Mike I was really impressed."

Veer continues to joke: “The last episode is almost like a movie. It's about an hour and 20 minutes or so, and it's very unexpected. It darkens and deteriorates. It's really interesting."

However, that shouldn't come as a surprise to fans given the series of unfortunate events that took place in Hawaii last season, gradually building anxiety through the drumbeat and lyrical singing that has grown with the excruciating death of innkeeper Ormond (Murray Bartlett ). )). . And while we know that more body bags will be prepared at the end of this journey, the outcome seems different.

"Sometimes the music on this show can feel more harmonious than in the first season," explains Weir. "In the sense that in the first season people were saying they were nervous because of the drums and the screams and everything. That was the point, and now the music is much more beautiful in a way. I think it suits Italy better ".

Weir worked with his manager Kim Neudorf, also a musician and songwriter, to complete the original tracks due to his scheduling conflicts, and he credits him with bringing a more organic sound to the production rather than relying on the electronic music player remixed. . GED. .

"Just like at the end of the first episode, there's a very romantic and dramatic rhythm to the opera, and it's very melodic. This material that he created was inspired by the theme, the opera and all these classical instruments, so he brought a lot of acoustics into the score – Italian mandolins and violins and stuff like that,” he explains. "That's why the score tends to sound maybe a little more organic or acoustic."

However, the music doesn't just set the tone for the score; this is also communicated by the addition of two characters who are musicians.

There is budding singer Mia (Beatrice Granno), a local who accompanies her escort friend Lucia (Simone Tabasco) on a mission to infiltrate the luxury hotel of the same name, and pianist Giuseppe (Federico Scribani), who accepts a reluctantly that Mia recites . Sam Cooke's stunningly beautiful song "The Best Things in Life Are Free" is a song that stands in direct contrast to the views and ambitions of the wealthy patrons he sings for. The tender moment was one of the most telling scenes because it adds another layer to a character that is clearly more complex than just a prostitute trying to make money. In the previous episode, Mia said that she dreams of being a singer and of course we wonder if she's any good at it. It's a small but triumphant moment for Mia, proving to both Giuseppe and the audience behind the fourth wall that yes , she is real. And she wouldn't have had the opportunity or the courage to do it without the support of Lucia, who made the proud and happy prostitute even more attractive than she already was, even if she could distract her friend from her more innocent self.

Weir says the incorporation of these characters into the script influenced the character of the score, causing the composers to include more piano and vocals this season. “There was a little bit of piano in the first season, but this season we used a lot more piano, but in a different way. I think there are romantic piano bits here and there, but there's something new.

"Sometimes strange situations arise when men have been around prostitutes," she continues. “And then the girls come through and it happens, this tension. But Mike told me that somehow we have to feel that these rats are in trouble.

White's orientation was to make these situations playful and entertaining, not necessarily dramatic, which led the composers to incorporate a breathy piano style that Weir describes as "almost cartoonish or something".

Part of White's effort isn't to portray the girls as broken victims or prostitutes that audiences might be used to seeing on screen. "[White] didn't want any edge in anything to do with girls, prostitutes," Weir explained. "He didn't want those girls to feel bad or bad things to happen because of those girls."

They're just on a mission to make money and have fun, and so far they seem to be doing pretty well. As viewers saw at the end of Season 3, when friends Ethan (Will Sharp) and Cameron (Thea James) recruit an escort for a night of cheating, while their wives set off on their nightly adventures. The scene where Cameron dresses Lucia while a drunken Ethan resists the urge for fun beyond a brief kiss with Mia is a good example of what makes the White Lotus soundtrack so moving. In fact, it's hard to imagine the show would have done so well without the work of Weir and Neudorf, who upon reading the script treated the sex scenes as more dramatic than sensual and made the bold decision to create a darker landscape. . sound. , delighting the audience to really feel the pang of Ethan's conscience.

“Sometimes you hear R&B in sex scenes in movies and stuff like that,” Weir says. "But we thought the sex scenes were more dramatic, so I think that's where the more lyrical stuff comes in. A little dark. There's a lot of tension in the sex scenes and it gets quite dark at times."

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