Clint Mansell Scored A Film Adaptation Of J. G. Ballard’s Terrifying High-Rise Novel
Listen to “Cine-Camera Cinema,” a Moog synth piece for a scene that’ll have you “too horrified to look, too captivated to look away.”
In 1975, the British sci-fi author J. G. Ballard published a book called High-Rise, which explored themes of societal oppression and inequality in the microcosm of a luxury apartment block. If that sounds familiar, it's because it's quite literally happening on our doorstep today. Fittingly, a film adaptation of the novel will arrive in May. Acclaimed film composer Clint Mansell (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream) has whipped up an ominous score for it, including the beautifully unnerving lead track "Cine-Camera Cinema," premiering below.
"I was fortunate to spend an afternoon in the company of a new Moog modular system," Mansell told The FADER over email. "Nothing sounds like a Moog and it can make the simplest of ideas sound like a gift from the Gods! The genesis of this piece came from that session. The analog warmth, the bite of the signal, the richness of the bass...It captured the weird dichotomy of the scene in the film—too horrified to look, too captivated to look away—so perfectly for me, and it's a personal favorite part of the score.”
High-Rise will be in theaters from May 13, and Silva Screen will release the soundtrack that day too. Listen to "Cine-Camera Cinema" below, and scroll down for Mansell's upcoming tour with a full band, during which he'll perform pieces from his film scoring career.
Tour dates
March 18 - The Theater at the Ace Hotel, Los Angeles CA
March 23 - Symphony Hall, Birmingham England
March 24 - Royal Festival Hall, London England
March 26 - The Sage, Gateshead England
March 29 - Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow Scotland