29. Let Your Inner Panda Out – Ludwig Göransson
30. Nobody Like U (Instrumental) – Finneas O’Connell
31. 1 True Love (Instrumental) – Finneas O’Connell
32. U Know What’s Up (Instrumental) – Finneas O’Connell
Of all the songs on the album, only three of them have lyrics: Nobody Like U, 1 True Love, and U Know What’s Up. These three tracks are listed as being performed by 4*TOWN, the movie’s fictional boyband, and are exactly the 90’s boyband homages they’re supposed to be, complete with sultry vocals, cheesy lovelorn lyrics, catchy harmonies and sick backbeats.
U Know What’s Up, specifically, conjures up memories of radio speakers blasting Backstreet Boys. For older listeners who lived through the 90’s boyband invasion, the vocal stylings of Jordan Fisher (yes, that Jordan Fisher), Finneas O’Connell, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva, and Josh Levi provide the nostalgia trip you didn’t know you needed.
A brief word about Finneas O’Connell - he is the composer of 4*TOWN’s songs, alongside his sister, chart sensation Billie Eilish.
For his part, Ludwig Göransson gives an element of stylistic variety to his score that well reflect the different aspects of the film. The album’s title track, Turning Red, is a groovy, flute-driven hype number that expresses the spunkiness of Mei, the protagonist. She is very much her own person —or wants to be — and the mix of style in this track alone help to establish exactly what she is about.
Along similar lines, tracks like Temple Duties and Red Moon Ritual play directly into Mei’s Chinese heritage, with the use of distinctly Chinese string, wind, and percussion instruments. The latter even incorporates a certain chanting into the melody to underscore a moment of ancient ritual that comes across as incredibly soaring and powerful.
Turning Red as a film is very much the sum of its parts, dealing with the many facets of the teenage mind and soul, and so it is with its soundtrack. Ludwig Göransson continuously whips up a blend of ancient moods and modern rhythms to create a musical landscape equally tumultuous and serene. And beautiful.
Review by: Ashley J. Cicotte
Turning Red (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is available on all major streaming platforms.
Nobody Like U - 4*TOWN (Official Lyric Video)
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Walt Disney Records Website