Lakeshore Records Podcast

Tuesday May 25, 2021

Jesper Kyd Talks Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Tuesday May 25, 2021

Jesper Kyd discusses his score for Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.

Video game fans across the world are excited about Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla — out now — and we’d like to emphasize the compelling music in the game. It’s truly stunning work. The composers — Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner, and Einar Selvik — have put together more than 120 minutes of engaging melodies and soundscapes that complement the extraordinary world-building the game’s designers have unleashed unto the world.

The second of two Assassin’s Creed Valhalla-focused episodes of Lakeshore Records’ On Cue With… features host Alon Levitan’s interview with Kyd, the BAFTA Award-winning Danish composer whose storied career has been connected to Assassin’s Creed from the beginning.

Kyd’s earned a host of awards and award nominations from critics and noble institutions on both sides of the pond, and recently was honored with the Nile Rodgers Global Creators Award for his innovative and unique body of work, joining the esteemed ranks of entertainment industry luminaries Spike Lee and Tony Visconti.

“For Valhalla, my approach was to write music that felt realistic and authentic to the Viking era while letting modern elements of the Animus infiltrate the score — blending the music into something new, yet uniquely Assassin’s Creed in its sound,” Kyd said. “I also allowed for a lot of air and space in the live recordings to emulate instruments being recorded outside among the forests and fjords.”

(For those who missed yesterday’s interview with Selvik, one of the other composers for the game, here it is.)

Stream and/or download the full Assassin’s Creed Valhalla — Original Game Soundtrack here. Lakeshore Records, in conjunction with Ubisoft, released the 47-track album digitally earlier this month.

About Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, players can take advantage of new features inspired by the Viking Culture, including raids, assaults, growing their settlement, building their power, and expanding their influence. Players must carve out a new future for their clan, reliving the ruthless fighting style of Viking warriors with a renewed combat system that includes the ability to dual-wield weapons against a greater variety of enemies than ever before.

Since it first launched in 2007, the Assassin’s Creed series has sold more than 140 million games worldwide. The franchise is now established as one of the best-selling series in video game history. Recognized for having some of the richest, most engrossing storytelling in the industry, Assassin’s Creed transcends video games, branching out into numerous other entertainment media.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is out now on your favorite consoles and platforms.

Lakeshore Records has also released soundtracks to Drive, Mr. Robot, Stranger Things, The Old Guard, I Am Not Your Negro, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, Halt and Catch Fire, and Possessor, among so many others.

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Tuesday May 25, 2021

Gingger Shankar Talks And She Could Be Next

Tuesday May 25, 2021

Gingger Shankar is a producer of the companion album to PBS’ voting rights docuseries, And She Could Be Next, and talks all about this compelling collection with host Gene Priest. (You can stream/buy the album now. Also, please vote if you’re in a region conducting elections this fall.)

About And She Could Be Next

The nine-cut release came out on Oct. 9 and features the work of Shankar and co-producer William Stanbro, along with artists like three-time Emmy-winning composer Vivek Maddala (Asian Americans, “The Tom & Jerry Show”), Sheila E, Aloe Blacc, Sa-Roc, Saul Williams, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, and more. It’s a companion to the show executive-produced by Ava DuVernay that chronicles the story of a defiant movement of women of color, including Stacey Abrams, Lucy McBath, Rashida Tlaib, AOC, Nikema Williams, and more, who are transforming American politics from the ground up.

Shankar began reaching out to friends to help create a companion album — woven with the docuseries score — as a tool to amplify voting organizations’ efforts as well as to just lift people’s spirits during this often heartbreaking year.

“In the words of Nina Simone, ‘It is an artist’s duty to reflect the times,'” Shankar said in a statement. “As artists, we are all feeling what’s happening in this country and the world right now on such a personal level. As people of color, we have all helped to create the fabric and culture of this country as a whole, yet we are living in a time where every one of us is treated as ‘other.’ How do we reconcile fighting for a country that is so clearly not just rejecting us, but going out of it’s way to harm our communities? We all come from different backgrounds, yet the resemblances are striking. The commonality we found in speaking to all these women artists was their strength and resilience. We gave each artist the same phrases before recording, and each came back with experiences and perspectives around it that blew us away.”

With that, a noteworthy series of songs emerged. It’s an album of voices of women who are accustomed to being silenced, each with her own story of discrimination and how they fought back. All with the goal of creating anthems to help women of color across the United States bring about change.

The album features artists from the hip hop, pop, and R&B community, including Aloe Blacc, Sa-Roc, Sheila E, Saul Williams, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, Hyro the Hero, Judith Hill, Ruby Ibarra, Shawnee, HeeSun Lee, Sussan Deyhim, Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, Oompa, This Way to the Egress, Genie Santiago, Vivek Maddala, William Stanbro, Sarah DeAun, Dee MC, Raaginder, Tia Simone, and JKeyz.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit organizations such as Fair Fight, Mijente, Seeding Sovereignty, and When We All Vote.

There are three ways to watch the docuseries: on your local PBS station, streaming it on AndSheCouldBeNext.com, or finding it on the PBS app on your smart TV.

And She Could Be Next is released by Lakeshore Records, which has also released soundtracks to Drive, Mr. Robot, Stranger Things, The Old Guard, I Am Not Your Negro, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, Halt and Catch Fire, and Bad Hair, among so many others.

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Tuesday May 25, 2021

Einar Selvik Talks Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Tuesday May 25, 2021

Einar Selvik discusses composing for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.

Everyone is pumped about Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, out now, and we’d like to emphasize the compelling music in the game. The composers — Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner, and Einar Selvik — have put together more than 120 minutes of engaging melodies and soundscapes that complement the extraordinary world-building the game’s designers have unleashed unto the world. The latest episode of Lakeshore Records’ On Cue With… podcast features an interview with Selvik, a lauded musician from Norway.

On Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Selvik, who specializes in ancient Nordic music and spearheads the renowned folk/world band Wardruna, provides evocative and striking songs to the game. (Selvik and Wardruna have contributed extensively on the soundtrack and music for History Channel´s TV series Vikings, where he also appeared in two episodes as a singer.)

“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is such a massive game, and it has been such a pleasure to be part of the musical team that set out to fill that enormous space with sounds that could potentially bring the player even more into the theme and time of the game,” Selvik said in a statement recently. “This compilation album is a good introduction to the musical landscapes of the game and gives a taste of the atmosphere of the game itself!”

Go ahead and dive into the On Cue With… interview, hosted by Lakeshore’s Alon Levitan.

On Dec. 4, Lakeshore and Ubisoft will also release a Valhalla-related solo album from Selvik entitled Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Wave of Giants. On it, Selvik shares 10 evocative tracks steeped in Nordic musical traditions that further enliven the authentic ethnography of the Viking culture in the game. Presave it here.

Selvik says of the solo album: “Wave of Giants is an old Norse poetic metaphor meaning “poetry” that refers to the myth when the god Odin stole the mead of poetry from Kvasir the Jotun/giant. The title felt very appropriate since much of my efforts on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla have been about giving voice to the Skalds and the poetic traditions that once laid at the heart of the Norse culture. New, as well as existing Old Norse poetry accompanied by ancient Norse and Nordic instruments, tonalities and rhythms — both the format of minimalistic and unpolished live-in-studio recordings, as well as fully produced pieces more similar to the soundscape of Wardruna. This album gives a good taste of my work in the game, as well as a feel for the game itself!”

About Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is out now on your favorite consoles and platforms.

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Tuesday May 25, 2021

Blake Neely Talks Greyhound

Tuesday May 25, 2021

Blake Neely discusses scoring Greyhound.

Greyhound, starring Tom Hanks, has some truly engaging music. The composer behind the original motion picture soundtrack is Blake Neely. He joins the Lakeshore podcast On Cue With… and host Alon Levitan to talk all about his masterful work for this Aaron Schneider-directed film about an inexperienced U.S. Navy commander who must lead an Allied convoy that has a German submarine wolf pack on its tail.

The score to the film that was No. 1 on Apple TV+ when it was released is available now digitally via Lakeshore Records on its Bandcamp page and through outlets such as Apple Music and Spotify.

More about Blake Neely

Texas-born Blake Neely is an award-winning composer with work in film, television, and the live space. He’s scored more than 30 TV series and 15 films, securing three Emmy Award nominations for his scores to ABC’s Pan Am, the HBO mini-series The Pacific, and for his title theme to Everwood. In addition to his own projects, Neely has been a co-composer, conductor, and orchestrator with notables such as Vangelis, Hans Zimmer, Michael Kamen, and James Newton Howard.

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Tuesday May 25, 2021

Ben Lovett Talks The Wolf of Snow Hollow

Tuesday May 25, 2021

Ben Lovett discusses scoring The Wolf of Snow Hollow.

Ben Lovett is interviewed by Gene Priest, who’s guest-hosting Lakeshore Records’ On Cue With… podcast. Lovett’s discussing his awesome Hermannesque score for Thunder Road director Jim Cummings’ The Wolf of Snow Hollow — both the film and Lakeshore’s digital soundtrack album release are out now.

Take a listen to this chat between Priest (Skeleton Beach) and Lovett.

About The Wolf of Snow Hollow

A small mountain town finds itself in a grip of terror when people discover dead bodies after each full moon. John Marshall (Jim Cummings) is a local cop who, amid sleepless nights, raising his teenage daughter (Chloe East), and caring for his ailing father, must remind himself there’s really no such thing as werewolves. Right? (One note: Robert Forster plays Sheriff Hadley in what became his last role before his death in October 2019.)

Check out the soundtrack on platforms such as Spotify. The album is released by Lakeshore Records, which in addition to releasing Lovett’s and Valen’s haunting “Little Red Riding Hood” cover from Snow Hollow, has also released soundtracks to Drive, Mr. Robot, Stranger Things, The Old Guard, I Am Not Your Negro, and Halt and Catch Fire, among so many others.

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