July 30, 2021
JUNGLE CRUISE Soundtrack Out Today from Disney – Score by James Newton Howard
Available today from Walt Disney Records, the JUNGLE CRUISE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features score by Oscar®-nominated, Emmy® and Grammy®-winning composer James Newton Howard (RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, NEWS OF THE WORLD, A HIDDEN LIFE). Disney’s JUNGLE CRUISE also released in theaters today and on Disney+ with Premier Access.
Howard describes his collaboration with director Jaume Collet-Serra as “seamless.” “Jaume is very mellow, relaxed and confident,” he said. “He is very consistent in his approach as a director, which is what every composer hopes for.”
He continues, “It was very clear what I needed to do. It wanted to be big orchestral writing, big on adventure, with a touch of the mystical. The score is also quite emotional in places, so there needed to be themes that could work in lots of different styles.”
Howard used a traditional 100-piece orchestra to record the music, with electronics hidden within the orchestra to provide textures for some of the darker elements in the film. Howard comments, “We bang on brake drums, we blow through conches, and make lots of exotic sounds, but ultimately, it’s all about the storytelling and what instruments do that the best. The orchestra gives the movie scale, excitement and all the emotional resonance it wants to have.”
The digital soundtrack also includes the song “Nothing Else Matters,” which was especially reimagined for “Jungle Cruise” by Metallica and Howard. The track, which was written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, includes featured performances by Hetfield, Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo.
Listen to a suite of Howard’s film score via Disney’s YouTube page:
