Welcome to Right on Cue, the podcast where we interview film, TV, and video game composers about the origins and nuances of their latest works.
Today, we’re talking about the latest film from director Brandon Cronenberg, Infinity Pool, another in a series of cinematic provocations from the son of acclaimed body-horror maestro David Cronenberg. While his works travel along similar roads — the alienation of the self from the human body, how class intersects with violence — the younger Cronenberg twists the visceral knife even further in parts, trafficking further in extremity and seeing how that further warps his film’s reflections of humanity.
In Infinity Pool, that takes the form of a blood-soaked bacchanal on a mysterious island nation frequented by rich tourists, who can afford to literally get away with murder (by having a clone made of themselves to be executed in their stead). With the threat of consequence no longer looming over them, the characters of Infinity Pool sink into a (sometimes literal) orgy of depravity, as disorienting as it is compelling to watch.
Aiding in that dizzying psychedelia is the score by acclaimed experimental musician and producer Tim Hecker, who crafts a suitably disorienting, doomed sound constructed from crunchy samples and unexpected analog elements. He’s a deeply thoughtful musician and theorist, as you’ll hear, as we talk about building a “music ecology” for Infinity Pool‘s constructed setting, exploring the limits of the film’s sonic nihilism, and more.
You can find Tim Hecker at his official website here.
Infinity Pool is currently playing in theaters. You can also listen to the score on your preferred music streaming service courtesy of Milan Records.
