Humans: original soundtrack by Cristobel Tapia Veer (CD review).
Now this is unusual. It’s rare to see a new TV series having 2 CDs together for a first season release. ‘Humans’ does. Then again, viewing Cristobel Tapia Veer’s credits, maybe that should be less surprising as he is award-winning and looks like he was adding more musical texture to each episode.
Veer’s music is very much electronic and probably appropriate for the synths that populate this series where it becomes harder to spot who are the humans. I’m always impressed by how these composers are making the soundtracks more a complete composition that just soundbytes but there is a continuity across the music so that shouldn’t be too surprising. Most of the tracks are greater than two minutes with track 8 ‘No Harm Will Ever Come To You’ reaching 6 minutes.
The music is very haunting. I loved the faster paced first CD track 9 ‘Hijackers’ for its rhythmical beat. The second CD starts off really eerie, maintaining the haunted effect. It will take another viewing of the series to see how it all fitted together which probably won’t be a bad thing.
For both, there is an organic feel to the tracks. All too often with android or robot SF series, there is a desire to play up the synthesiser to remind the viewer what they are watching. This doesn’t happen here. In some respects, the ‘Humans’ soundtrack is very much background music, so Veer was integrating it more with the film action. It works without it but don’t expect loud boisterous music.
The booklet is mostly photos from the series suggesting that you might want to lease a synthetic human. If you’re a fan of the series, then you’ll want to add this CD to your collection. Just give your synth battery time at night.
GF Willmetts
May 2016
(pub: Silva Records, 2015. 2 CD 22 tracks 82 minutes with 12 page booklet. CD # 1: 11 tracks 40 minutes. CD # 2: 11 tracks 42 minutes. Price: £ 8.99 (UK). ASIN: SILCD1498)
check out website: www.silvascreenmusic.com