We already had the pleasure to ask Cliff Martinez some questions on his work here.

Yet, this news is a good reason for us to talk about him again. He produced 25 tracks of audio suspense and thrill for one of Amazon’s most anticipated series: Too Old To Die Young by Nicolas Winding Refn. Out since Friday June 14^th.

The show is about detective, Martin Jones, who leads a double life as a killer for hire in Los Angeles’ deadly underground, suffers an existential crisis which leads him deeper into a blood splattered world of violence.Presented at the latter Cannes Film Festival, the series will star Miles Teller, Jena Malone, John Hawkes and William Baldwin. As the film has received worldwide critical acclaim or rejection, we don’t need to talk about the series itself, but you might want to check out the press conference with Nicolas Winding Refn and his cast to know more about it.

The series was imagined by Nicolas Winding Refn and Ed Brubaker at the time of the production of The Neon Demon – 2016.And so music wise of course, Cliff Martinez is teaming up with NWR once again. Sheer explorer of the electronic music language and synth pop, Cliff Martinez is taking you on a trip of ambient, dark and mesmerizing music as well as rough techno-ish moments.

The album is indeed structured in a consistent way, where one third is quite smooth and stellar – down to Mothers Favorite Skirt, whereas the second part starts to rise into drama – down to I’m Hunting. Different noises are used and crosscutted, and this is where Cliff’s wizardry is still as interesting than it was at the beginning with his work for Steven Soderbergh. This approach reminds us of another musical project: Moritz von Oswald & Ordo Sakhna, where tradition hits modernity to create a new ground of expression.

For all the fans of the nightclub scene in The Neon Demon, the treat is also there. Upbeat, dark, pepped, some tracks like Summaassault are the quintessential identity of Nicolas Winding Refn’s taste for futuristic atmospheres. This track however is composed by Julian Winding, his nephew, who’d already composed that nightclub track in The Neon Demon. It might even remind you the craze of Hotline Miami’s own soundtrack, where some hints of cool synthwave will make you want to check out the downtown spooky places.

Stories of the violent underworld in LA full of sparkling colors, with a 25 tracks impressive soundtrack. A 5 stars pop culture experience. This 13 hours film’s soundtrack was released on the 14^th of June on digital, and on vinyl & CD on the 28^th, under Milan Music.

– Mikael Schutz
Designed by SpaceMaster

Martinez seems to challenge Refn to build the best world possible for the music to do its duty and Refn seems to challenge Martinez to suitably fill it with his most expansive, expressive, and engaging score yet.

– Vehlinggo