Music Composed and Conducted by David Stone Hamiilton
"Solis is a survival space thriller, with the main character in a race against time to meet his rescuer," explains composer David Stone Hamilton about the score. "We wanted to create a score that would reflect the increasing tension and impending doom with a musical "ticking time bomb" employed in different ways. Sometimes it's literally a ticking clock, and other times we use modernist percussion effects or col legno strings to give this effect. Our Solar theme represents the grandeur and almost hypnotic allure of the Sun as well as the existential threat it poses to our protagonist. Another prominent theme was the rising half step or minor second interval, which is a nod to John Williams' brilliant Jaws score to create the inherent tension with this dissonant interval. We also reserved some moments for a Korean instrument named the Haegeum, which has a truly otherworldly sound to it."
Track Listing:
1 Debris 1:12
2 Main Title 5:48
3 Coolant Chamber 3:15
4 We Had a Son 2:55
5 Cauterization 3:52
6 Memories 3:33
7 Best Odds I've Had All Day 3:35
8 A Solis Triptych: 1. Death 10:25
9 A Solis Triptych: 2. Space Walk 10:48
10 A Solis Triptych: 3. Finale 11:51
11 Let Me Save You 5:36
12 End Credits 3:30
Posted by Randall D. Larson on 18th Mar 2020
MovieScore Media’s latest discovery, soon to be released physically by Perseverance Records, takes listeners on an unexpected journey to outer space with a thematically rich, symphonic score by composer David Stone Hamilton. Written and directed by Carl Strathie, SOLIS is a survival thriller set in space, in which a worker on a space mining operation becomes trapped in an emergency escape vehicle drifting towards the sun, with help potentially too far away to effect a rescue. Hamilton’s score provides the kind of tense, race-against-time momentum that heightens the story’s growing suspense, while also supporting the film’s human story and the dramatic nuances that it conveys. The score is a thematically rich, symphonic work, given an especially otherworldly sound through inclusion of a Korean instrument named the Haegeum, which provides a strange, otherworldly sound. “We wanted to create a score that would reflect the increasing tension and impending doom with a musical ‘ticking time bomb’ employed in different ways,” Hamilton explained. “Sometimes it’s literally a ticking clock, and other times we use modernist percussion effects or col legno strings to give this effect. Our Solar theme represents the grandeur and almost hypnotic allure of the Sun as well as the existential threat it poses to our protagonist.” The result is a very attractive, involving work, richly symphonic, with its sonic apotheosis found in a series of three 10-to-11 minute tracks collectively called “Solis Triptych” and subdivided into “1: Death,” “2: Space Walk,” and “3: Finale.” This impressionistic musical trilogy allows the composer to really energize his orchestration into powerful series of enthralling atmospheric progressions. SOLIS is a quite impressive and compelling score from a newcomer worth following. I’m looking forward to Hamilton rejoining Strathie for their next science fiction horror thriller, DARK ENCOUNTER, which will allow the composer to further push boundaries with its hybrid sound of orchestral, choral, and electronic elements combined.