Jay McCarrol finds the restless, rough-edged sound of a young Anthony Bourdain.
Jay McCarrol and director Matt Johnson have been making slightly chaotic things together for years.
After co-creating Nirvanna the Band the Show and collaborating on BlackBerry, McCarrol has now scored Tony, A24’s forthcoming biopic about a young Anthony Bourdain.
The 12-track soundtrack, out now through A24 Music, heads back to Bourdain’s early years and the raw kitchen world that helped shape him.
McCarrol built the score around an old wooden felt piano, with accordion and harmonium adding to the nautical atmosphere of Provincetown.
I wanted to convey the beautiful, dignified darkness of Bourdain. I built the score around an old wooden felt piano that creaked like an aging ship, keeping his melody low, solemn, and stoic, with just a trace of adolescent uncertainty. Accordions and harmoniums evoke the nautical atmosphere of Provincetown. He would go on to travel the world many times over, this score is the calm, distant thunder before the storm.”
It’s a fitting match for McCarrol, whose scores are particularly good at capturing restless characters and periods without leaning too hard into nostalgia.
After years working with Johnson’s fast, rough-edged filmmaking style, Tony sees McCarrol turn that same instinct towards the noise, pressure and uncertainty of Bourdain’s early kitchen years.
Tony (Original Soundtrack) is out now via A24 Music. The film screens in New York and Los Angeles from August 7 before opening in US theatres nationwide on August 21.
Tracklist
- The Meaning of Providence
- The Flagship
- A Day in the Life of a Writer
- Wave Action
- Striper Run
- Friday Special
- Greasefire
- Only Came Here to See You
- Sal
- Black Doesn’t Mean Burnt
- Francois Vatel
- Provincetown
