Rob Simonsen – “Night Drive” (from the NERVE soundtrack) (audio) (premiere)

NERVE seems fairly dark and nearly apocalyptic, and thus far most of its soundtrack has reflected that. However, Rob Simonsen‘s “Night Drive” is a more positive bit of synthwave, a major-key piece straight out of a whimsical SNES racer. Its arpeggiation is a mix between Kavinsky’s sobriety and Todd Terje’s cheekiness, tempo changes adding to a sense of levity. Its crashing house beat is straight out of a Justice song, and its syncopation reflects a little bit of that French house influence. We’ll see where it fits into the movie, but it will hopefully belie a multifaceted and versatile score on the whole.

“We used a children’s choir in the score and they were so fun to work with. We really liked the juxtaposition of their voices against the more brooding and pulsing synths. They were the voice of innocence, which is one of the themes of the film, I think,” says Simonsen. “Even though the scene in the film is in the rain, we had summer vibes on our minds.”

NERVE comes out July 27.