CNN
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Among the many dark gifts, Showtime’s bizarre hit series “yellow jacket” serves us, the most exciting thing about this season so far is the music.
The show – bounces between a troupe Teen soccer player trapped in the 1990s The Canadian wilderness after a plane crash and the respective adult selves of today’s survivors – enveloping nostalgia, incorporating long-cherished tunes from the end of the last century , with staples from Tori Amos, early Smashing Pumpkins, Massive Attack, Veruca Salt and more.
In Sunday’s episode of “Yellowjackets,” the alt-rock queen Alanis Morissette released a version of the show’s theme song, “No Return,” and released it as a single.
One of the most successful and unexpected uses of reverse music came in the first episode of Season 2 last month, when Warren Kole’s Jeff got a moment to himself in the car after an intense date. with his wife Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) – during which he rocked. Go all out on Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” (sure, the track actually came out in 2000, but that doesn’t take away from its nostalgic feel).
In an interview with CNN, the show’s music supervisor, Nora Felder, explained that the selection of the Papa Roach song was scripted and “acted as the perfect physical outlet for Warren.” , who has a heightened sense of anxiety sitting alone in her garage.”
However, other standout moments in the script are her own interpretation, and Felder enjoys the opportunity to pair those moments with appropriate songs of the period.
She said, “I got back into the era of the show and the spirit of the times when I started building my playlist for the show. “The main thing I try to keep in mind is just being honest with the story and letting it tell me what it might take musically.”
Case in point, from the same episode – the location of Amos’ signature track “Cornflake Girl,” on her breakout 1994 second album “Under the Pink.”
The song – which has the appropriate lyrics “Things are going badly” just as teenage girl Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) is about to eat something unthinkable – “likely to happen pretty quickly ” for Felder.
“I felt that Amos’s lyrics could serve as the right launching pad for the ending of the first episode — not only a reflection of Young Shauna’s mood,” she notes, “but also a reflection of past and present moods and moods. by other ‘Yellowjackets’ characters in Season 2.
Felder’s work is challenging, in the sense that there is usually an ideal wishlist selection for a song at a given time in each scenario, which can then change due to something technical. either due to the needs of the context evolving during production, as well as as a result of many factors, including the actors’ performance.
“Everybody in the cast always wanted to pick the best song possible to enhance the story,” she said. “When we started post-production, the common question between us during the collaboration was simply, ‘Do we think we can beat this?’”
During that collaboration, Felder says she doesn’t “believe there is an exact roadmap for how to match songs to any particular scene or story”.
“I always say, ‘Let the picture tell you what it takes.’ (Something like the Wilderness I guess?)”
Another moment that feels perfectly in tune with the music playing is the now famous ‘last supper’ scene from last week’s second episode, which boasts Radiohead’s “Climbing By The Walls” from their hit 1995 album “OK Computer” on the soundtrack.
“The song seems to refer to unspeakable monsters that can live inside one’s head,” Felder noted, referring to the strange collective hallucination the group experienced from cannibalism. their. “I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to give a haunting accent to (that) scene, aka ‘party’.”
To appreciate the importance of music to the specific ambient feeling of “Yellowjackets”, one need look no further than the super creepy soundtrack. Season 2 trailer for the show, which includes Florence + The Machine’s haunting and distinctive performance of No Doubt’s 1995 timeless hit, “Just a girl.”
“I’m a huge fan of ‘Yellowjackets’ and this musical era, and this song in particular had a huge impact on me growing up, so I’m happy to be asked to interpret it in ‘very disturbing’ way for the show. ,” band leader Florence Welch said in a statement shared with CNN.
“We tried to really add some horror elements to this iconic song to match the tone of the show. And for someone whose first love of music is pop punk and Gwen Stefani, it’s a dream job.”
Regarding her collaboration with “Yellowjackets,” Morrisette also feels inspired by the show.
Morissette said in a statement: “I see parallels between ‘Yellowjackets’ and my perspective when it comes to composing: sheer intensity, moving towards the ordinary without the fear around heading for the obscene. . “I’ve tried my whole career to advocate for women’s empowerment and sensitive people, and to see the world through women’s lenses, and what’s great about this film is that each individual Things are allowed to be dynamic and complex instead of over-simplifying, reducing. women’s version. I feel honored to be a part of the ‘Yellowjackets’ legacy.”
