Premiere: “One Year Hence” by Daniel Hart
The composer and violinist’s haunting single from The Green Knight soundtrack
As anticipation surges for the 30 July release of auteur David Lowery’s epic Arthurian adaptation, The Green Knight, from independent media company A24, LA-based composer and violinist Daniel Hart‘s aural introduction to the soundtrack comes by way of the haunting debut single, “One Year Hence.” The track alone is a thriller—an unsettling atmospheric immersion that grips listeners from start to finish. From eerie orchestration to harrowing choral punctuation, it’s an apt precursor to the film itself.
“I made the first demo for ‘One Year Hence’ in late August 2019,” Hart tells us. “I still had only the script at that point (and had visited the set in Ireland for a few days in April), but David and I both thought there would be a lot of music in the film, and I wanted to get a head start.” The album’s sprawling 29 tracks underscore Hart’s prolific capabilities—and reflect his longstanding professional partnership with Lowery.
As for the single’s development, Hart says, “The synth which enters halfway through ‘One Year Hence’ was the bulk of the demo, with some recorders and vocals layered on top in a couple places, much like the music which ended up in the film. David placed a version of that demo in the beheading scene first and liked it, and then I began to refine it, keeping the synth as its core. I had created that sound after just messing around on the Prophet for a couple hours, within the first week of taking it out of the box. I took notes on what I was doing, because I was so happy with it, and felt like I’d want to come back to it later on.” Altogether, a sense of foreboding was born.
Hart’s feature film collaboration with Lowery began with 2013’s Aint Them Bodies Saints. In addition to his cinematic compositions, Hart has long performed with a diverse array of bands including Broken Social Scene, The Polyphonic Spree and more. He also recorded strings for this year’s stunning St Vincent album, Daddy’s Home. The soundtrack for The Green Knight will be released by Sony Music Masterwork.
Images courtesy of A24
