Renowned for his avant-garde approach to music, Daniel Lopatin, known as Oneohtrix Point Never, delves into his recent work with the ‘Marty Supreme’ score. This project highlights his ‘feral’ creativity, showcasing his distinctive style that blends unique soundscapes and melodic ingenuity. Lopatin’s collaborations with the Safdie brothers have propelled him into the spotlight, making his sonic explorations the heartbeat of their cinematic narratives.
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From Underground to Mainstream
Daniel Lopatin’s journey as Oneohtrix Point Never began in the realms of underground electronic and noise music. As his career evolved, he flirted with mainstream success by working alongside notable artists like Nine Inch Nails, FKA Twigs, and the Weeknd. However, it’s his film scores with the Safdie brothers that have truly captured public attention, marking him as a standout composer in contemporary cinema.
“We have similar inclinations artistically, but we’re very different people,” Lopatin shares, reflecting on his partnership with the Safdies, having collaborated on 2017’s Good Time and 2019’s Uncut Gems. His latest score for Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme has positioned him as an Oscar contender, thanks to the film’s evocative musical landscape.
The Creative Synergy
Josh Safdie’s relentless energy seems to draw out a unique facet of Lopatin’s creativity. “He’s unrelenting, and his energy is just at 11 [out of 10] all the time,” Lopatin says. Safdie’s approach permeates their work together, pushing Lopatin towards a more ‘feral’ creativity that ignites their collaborative projects.
The Marty Supreme score is lively and reflective of its protagonist, Marty Mauser, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet. Set against a 1950s backdrop, the soundtrack intriguingly incorporates elements from the 1980s, featuring classics from Tears for Fears, Alphaville, and Peter Gabriel. This retro influence speaks to an unpursued narrative thread that Lopatin and Safdie ultimately embraced sonically.
Psychic Depths and Musical Labyrinths
Lopatin’s ‘feral’ creativity shines through the metaphorical layers of the Marty Supreme score. “It’s like a labyrinth that Marty has to traverse to get to his future, his dream, his vision of himself,” he explains. Music becomes a conduit for emotions and intuitions that characters experience, conveying unspoken narratives through its rich auditory tapestry.
Particularly intriguing are two staircase scenes featuring Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Marty himself, where music underscores themes of ascension and descent. Lopatin notes, “In both cases, we played with this motif of ascension,” adding depth to their cinematic interpretation.
Exploring Beyond the Score
The creation of the Marty Supreme score coincided with Lopatin’s continued collaborations with the Weeknd and his personal projects, such as his album Tranquilizer. Using a trove of 90s sample CDs, Lopatin embraced a “subterranean search” for inspiration that fed into his multifaceted work.
A quirky moment also sparked creativity: during a dental visit, a poster of palm trees on the ceiling spurred conceptual thinking. “It’s bizarre, since nobody likes dentists,” he muses, finding inspiration in unexpected discomfort.
Lopatin’s ‘feral’ creativity continually redefines how music can evoke imagery, inviting listeners into his “hallucinatory cartoon of sound.” He notes, “I know my music can be kind of difficult or obtuse … but more and more, I think that people understand it the way that I understand it.” Such understanding underpins his compelling vision for film scores, particularly with Marty Supreme, drawing audiences into a vivid world where sound and narrative merge seamlessly.