WaterTower Music release Daniel Pemberton's score for Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya’s paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down...

Daniel Pemberton delivers an upbeat, mainly rock-based, score for Birds of Prey. It's one that works well, not just in the movie, but as a standalone collection of themes in its own right. There's lots of neat little touches, like the "cuckoo" vocals, that show the composers attention to detail.

Talking about the project, Pemberton said: "One of the best things about writing this score was the fact I felt Harley Quinn as a character would be into anything – I can see her listening to whatever she wants: opera, metal, hip-hop, EDM, rockabilly, gospel, pop. I always felt she didn’t really care for one thing – she’d absorb them all and not give a f*** if anyone thought it was cool or not. So, I felt I’d do that with the music. In the same way she dresses like no one else, pulling disparate styles together to make something her own, I wanted to do the same with the score. Then couple that with a crew of other great larger-than-life characters and the completely unique take on Gotham that director Cathy Yan has created, a world with a kaleidoscopically colourful palate, you have something very special to inspire you".

It's this smashing together of musical styles, that shouldn't work together but oddly enough do, that gives this score it's unique charm. Over the course of the 27 tracks (1 hr, 01 min, 52 sec), piece like 'Bad Ass Broad (Whistle MF)' also give the album a quirky element, whilst tracks like 'Lotus Flower' show its more melancholic side. But mostly this is a collection of rock-based themes.

A wonderfully diverse and complex score that's well worth adding to your collection.

8

Darren Rea