AMN Reviews: Andreas Aaser – Songs of Tomorrow (2024)

This four-piece EP from film and television composer Andreas Aaser explores the implications of our increasingly dystopian present and future by imagining a world in which people can gather and communicate through limited instrumentation – string quartet, timpani, synths, voice, flute, and samples. Given this, it is not surprising that Songs of Tomorrow feels cinematic.

It makes a strong statement on Fury, which employs martial percussion, staccato strings, chant, and a repeating anthemic theme. Aaser channels his personal outrage at the state of the world through pounding rhythms and discordance. Ekko tells the story of Echo and Narcissus in a sweeter set of melodies that are undergirded with a sense of foreboding.

Wayfarer concerns one who explores a desolate and bleak future world to share knowledge. It begins playfully but transforms into a dense and involved structure with hints of tone clusters from the strings. Ritual lives up to its name with primitive chant and pounding drums to match guttural string passages.

Aasaer has written for several notable shows on Netflix and Disney+, so you might have heard his music already. There are hints of Jóhannsson and Morricone in his writing, which makes Songs of Tomorrow a strong recommendation, especially for those who enjoy soundtracks.