We won’t post any deceitful trash like short, blurry clips from the set of The Dark Knight Rises, but when it comes to some cool tidbits, certainly. Composer Hans Zimmer is back in the reigns, without the help of James Newton Howard this time around. After working with guitarist Johnny Marr for the Oscar-nominated Inception score, and Rodrigo y Gabriela for Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, there are no planned collaborations for Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming mega-blockbuster, but talking with the BBC (via The Playlist) we do have some new, brief information.
He said he has “been in the studio trying out ideas” and he will “try to make it different,” but like Nolan’s storyline it will be in sync with the rest of the trilogy. He says, “it’s a matter of knocking down some walls and making it broader, wider and more epic.” When it comes to influences, he also stated he’s “been listening to a lot of Verdi lately, and Alison Goldfrapp, and a lot of electronica.”
As a huge fan of the London, England-based band, their work seems to go perfectly in line with what Zimmer has recently been up to, as he fit electronica with standard score compositions. While their first few albums were more ambient/dance/pop, with 2008’s Seventh Tree they infused light electronica into what was almost folk-esque songs. It’s a delight to hear that Zimmer has been listening to their work for this score, although we can assume it will be much darker than the warm elements found in this band’s work. He also mentioned Giuseppe Verdi, the famous Italian composer who primarily worked on operas. Check out one of my favorite tracks from Goldfrapp’s 2008 album, Caravan Girl, performed live below.
Zimmer’s next work can be heard in Guy Ritchie‘s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows this December, and then The Dark Knight Rises next July, which stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, Josh Pence, Daniel Sunjata, Nestor Carbonell, Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Joey King, Brett Cullen, Chris Ellis, and Josh Stewart.
Are you a fan of Goldfrapp or Verdi? What do you think about Zimmer listening to them while composing the score?