Out now via
Decca Records,
Beasts, the debut album from accomplished musician
Saunder Jurriaans, finds him stepping into uncharted territory where he has delivered one of the most moving, musically inventive and cinematic records you’re likely to hear in 2020. Exploring deeply personal themes throughout, the songs featured on
Beasts were written after a difficult number of years dealing with depression. Written when he was coming out of that period, the songs examine how this darker side of him has remained, along with how he reconciles living with that person. Stream the album in full on Spotify
HERE.
It’s most likely you have already heard some of Saunder Jurriaans‘ music. Over the past decade, not only has he released acclaimed records with his groups Tarantula, Tarantula A.D. and Priestbird, but he has also been one-half of an award-winning duo with Danny Bensi creating soundtracks. Together they have created music for over 100 film and TV series, including Ozark, The OA, American Gods, Barry, Chef’s Table and Boy Erased as well as acclaimed arthouse films such as Martha Marcy May Marlene, Enemy, The One I Love, The Fits and the new HBO series The Outsider. The duo has just been nominated for this year’s Emmy Awards for their work on the music for Ozark, Season Three.
Even while Hollywood was keeping him busy, Jurriaans never lost his love for straightforward songwriting. “As soon as we started scoring, I started accumulating songs,” he says. “With my creative life consumed by writing film scores, I found catharsis in writing songs – music that wasn’t necessarily dictated by someone else’s story or structure. It was something I needed, and still need.”
With Beasts, Jurriaans has succeeded in crafting a singular, personal record that is wholly his own, which makes the album title an apt one. “When I started to think about what to name the record, ‘Beasts’ worked so well,” he says. “These songs are creatures that came out of my imagination after lurking in my life for so many years. They’re elusive and fantastical, and in some ways terrifying. Putting out music this intimate is scary. It’s a beast. The whole album is a beast and each song is a beast.”
