New-to-Me Mondays: Daniel Pemberton
Daniel Pemberton is the English composer behind the electric soundscape of Miles Morales' New York. The score for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, alongside the witty, smart, thoughtful writing, contains the pulsing heart of the film. Known for work on Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, as well as several award-winning films and television series, it's no wonder that Pemberton’s Spider-Verse score wields such emotional and tonal heft in service of the narrative.
Listening to it the morning after my late-night first viewing of Spider-Verse, the images came to life again, that's how closely intertwined the music is with the action of each crashing, swooping moment of the film, while also lending gravity and solemnity to the film’s quiet, more contemplative parts.
The remarkable thing about this score, and the way it plays out over the course of the film, is the sheer range of musical influences that have gone into making a robust, believable musical soundscape for the New York City of Miles Morales. Not to mention the subtle, but effectively realized variations on the musical theme for each of the Spider-Verse alternates.
The film is equal parts humour, high action, and deep personal drama, and this underlying score serves only to emphasize every emotional peak and plunge.
It goes without saying that film is an incredibly collaborative medium, but it's always nice to see just how powerful a film can be when the right people come together with just the right elements to make cinematic alchemy happen. There are many reasons why Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the best Spider-Man movie ever made (fight me), but the music is definitely way up there near the top.
And I haven’t even talked about the fire and fury that the soundtrack itself brings to the party. The tracks selected for and inspired by Spider-Verse that are included throughout the film and credits — including a pivotal introduction scene set perfectly to Post Malone’s “Sunflower” — are just the most perfect distillation of the energy of the film, the zeitgeist of Generation Z that this Spider-Man firmly fits into, and the emotional landscape of Miles Morales.
From the narrative, to the animation , to the music, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is just the gift that keeps on giving.
