Tuesday Thomas: 18 August ‘26
Thomas Newman working on Andrew Stanton’s Wall-E
It’s Tuesday so let’s alliterate and enjoy some Thomas Newman. Not sure if anyone actually enjoys these Tuesday bursts of music but if you do, then comment below!
Youtube links below for each track and a more detailed reflection for each track below them.
Here are five Thomas Newman tracks that are worth a listen:
Waltz for Alice
From Let Them All Talk
(2020, Director: Steven Soderbergh)
Yup, this is Thomas Newman. Who knew that in 2020 he could deliver a score that is so surprising. Soderbergh’s improvised cruise ship dramedy features Meryl Streep as the character Alice and this is her theme, used in the opening segments of the film as she boards the ship with her friends.
This plays like an old school jazz piece with quirky vocals, strumming bass and playful percussion. As always with Newman, despite how jaunty this piece is, his string work is what makes this piece stand out. With a classy sweeping string motif that captures not only the setting for the film, but the elegance, confidence and aloofness of the character of Alice.
The track climaxes like the end of a wild jazz concert with the perfect culmination of music to showcase the nature of the film and this wonderful score.
I dare you not to tap your foot at some point during the three minutes.
Define Dancing
From Wall-E
(2008, Director: Andrew Stanton)
A wonderful piece from Pixar’s Wall-E which won Newman an Emmy. Define Dancing is one of his most playful, lush and romantic pieces of music which scores Wall-E and Eve’s space dance. It’s hard to express just how wonderful this piece of music is with twinkling percussion and stargazing piano riffs. The most beautiful part is that wonderful sweep of strings to add grandeur and majesty to the romance of the track.
This is a piece of music that you hope doesn’t end while you listen, it truly envelopes the listener and is a shooting star piece of music - something special that may be over too soon but takes you to a wonderful place as you bask in it’s fun, romance and beauty.
Brothers
From Josh and S.A.M.
(1993, Director: Billy Weber)
A little curveball Newman from way back in 1993 for a film that I’m not sure many people will have seen. That’s what I love about film music, even if the film isn’t to your taste, there can always be joy to find within the music.
The piece starts with a solo piano to establish the motif that will run through it before some lush strings accompany it. It is sweet and stays just on the ride side of playful with an innocence that captures the relationship between the young brothers. The piano motif is repeated throughout and it is within it that you find real warmth. At 1.26, there is some woodwind and subtle strings to shift the track towards it’s crescendo with super lush strings recreating that motif before some quirky percussion join the strings and woodwind to close out the track with a subtle touch of vocals at the very end.
There’s lots to enjoy in this relatively short track, especially that wonderful piano motif for the two brothers.
Ford V8 Deluxe
From The Highwaymen
(2019, Director: John Lee Hancock)
Something a bit more jaunty now, with the opening titles from John Lee Hancock’s The Highwaymen. It starts with some ethereal sounds as it searches for a rhythm before slowly merging into that Newman Americana sound with the strumming of the guitar creating a real sense of tension and urgency and drama. We get some very somber and subtle piano and the music swirls with real uncertainty with that guitar a constant presence with the snare drum and then the violin dominating the final minute of so.
It’s a brilliant piece of scene and time setting music as it places the viewer directly in the hunt for Bonnie and Clyde. There is real drama and mystery throughout and this captures Newman’s commitment to making the viewer feel rather than telling them what to feel - a massive difference. Some brilliant tracks throughout this album but the opening track is a great one to, obviously, start with.
That Next Place
From Meet Joe Black
(1998, Director: Martin Brest)
This is pure orchestral Thomas Newman and it’s hard to write about this piece of music in a detached manner. I think this may be one of Newman’s most beautiful scores but this piece, wow, this track just takes hold of you for ten solid minutes and helps you to feel so many things.
There is a bold combination of strings, brass and piano all exploring ever crevice of that wonderful motif that captures the heart and soul of what the film is about - loving and losing and finding a way through grief.
I suppose I should explore the musical complexities of the piece of music but that genuinely feels a bit beyond me because this piece of music holds so much emotive power for me. So indulge my emoting.
I remember losing someone I loved dearly at far too young an age after a battle with ill health. I listened to this piece of music as I contemplated that goodbye, that raw unfairness and there’s something that is just so incredibly powerful to be found in Thomas’ music here - sadness for what is lost, hope for what can be found and the power of memory as you navigate grief. There are the most brassy and dramatic of flourishes, touches of that wonderful love theme he scores for earlier in the theme and a beautiful almost childish woodwind to symbolise what has been left behind. But it all comes back to that beautiful motif he creates for this film. Stunningly orchestral and profoundly moving.
Lose yourself in this for ten minutes and think of someone you miss. All the words on this website are because of the power of film music to make you feel something important - there is no better example of that power than this track. Enjoy!