Deutsche Grammophon releases Clark’s haunting soundtrack to Daniel Isn’t Real

Clark’s soundtrack for Adam Egypt Mortimer’s psychological horror thriller Daniel Isn’t Real is a darkly euphoric dreamscape that evokes both rapture and dread. The Brighton-based British musician’s mutated orchestra score, set for international release by Deutsche Grammophon on 6 December 2019, plays its part in telling the tale of the mayhem unleashed after college freshman Luke is taken captive by his charismatic imaginary childhood friend, the increasingly malevolent Daniel.

Daniel Isn’t Real (from the producers of cult hits Mandy and Color Out Of Space) scored rave reviews following its premiere last March at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Miles Robbins – son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon – who plays the adult Luke, and Patrick Schwarzenegger – son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver – as Daniel were respectively hailed as “brilliant” and “stunning” by thehollywoodnews.com. Variety, meanwhile, judged the film to be “stylishly crafted” and “first-rate in all departments”.

Clark’s score, which mirrors Luke’s descent into the abyss of psychotic violence while reinforcing the unanswered questions about Daniel’s identity, was praised by thehollywoodnews.com for delivering “a brooding, moody, chain of sound that runs parallel to the story”, enabling viewers to work out Luke’s mental state based purely on what they hear.

The composer himself told one interviewer how much he loved working on the project: “It was particularly rewarding scoring Luke, clambering inside the electric majesty of his slowly dissolving mind. The record is one of my best, seriously. New pathways into forging electronics with orchestra can be found here.”

Clark was born Christopher Clark in St Albans, England in 1979. He began making music in his teens on drum machines, a violin, a drum kit and old hardware samplers. His breakthrough came with the release of his debut album in 2001, made for the iconic Warp Records while he was studying at Bristol.

Over the past eighteen years Clark has created a series of critically acclaimed LPs, EPs and singles together with remixes of tracks by, among others, Thom Yorke, Max Richter, Massive Attack and Depeche Mode. He has recently made his mark as soundtrack composer with the dramas The Last Panthers (Canal+/Sky), Rellik (BBC/HBO) and Kiri (Channel 4/Hulu), and has also scored ten contemporary dance projects in collaboration with Australian choreographer Melanie Lane.