When a new Marvel production is announced, I am always curious to see if the composer is a Marvel veteran or a newcomer to the franchise. The latter is the case for Natalie Holt, who wrote the music for Marvel’s new television show Loki. Not only has Holt not written for Marvel, but she has never crossed my path either, so I was looking forward to exploring her music for this review.
The Loki series is available on Disney+, and Disney is known for releasing several digital soundtrack albums for each season. In the case of Loki two albums were released, one for each half of the season and I will be covering both in this review. I always like to listen to the music before watching the show, and hearing the music for Loki for the first time made me very intrigued. The music is a mix of several different styles, including analog synth sounds, orchestral elements, emotional cues by a single cello, and my favorite thing on the score: a major role for the theremin.
Watching the images of the show is definitely necessary to understand this unusual combination of instruments, but the musical style fits with the show very well. The aesthetic of the show looks a lot like the science fiction movies from the ’50s, perfectly explaining the use of the theremin, but the show also takes place in different time periods and while the show has impactful and serious climaxes, there are also some silly moments. The music Holt has written for all of those scenes matches all these styles perfectly, but while doing so, the overall feel of the music does not change much, which makes it a pleasant listening experience for me. If you want to get a good idea of the style I’m talking about, I recommend listening to the tracks “TVA” and “Loki Green Theme.”
Discovering new composers is something I love very much. Every composer has their own ideas and musical styles. I have not listened to any other work from Natalie Holt yet, but what I do know is that Loki is very different from other material within the Marvel universe, and what Natalie Holt has written for it, is quite unique, innovative and fits the series extremely well. In addition, the music is also fun to listen to on its own. I think this makes for a superb debut from Holt in the Marvel universe.
Listen or buy
- Buy this soundtrack from Amazon.com (Episode 1-3, Episode 4-6) or Apple Music (Episode 1-3, Episode 4-6)
- Listen to this soundtrack on Spotify (Episode 1-3, Episode 4-6)
Tracklist
The highlights are in bold.
Episodes 1-3
- TVA (2:28)
- New York, 2012 (1:30)
- Gobi, 2012 (3:00)
- TVA First View (1:06)
- Loki Green Theme (2:24)
- Loki Processing (2:16)
- Aix‐En‐Provence, 1549 (2:34)
- Miss Minutes (2:00)
- Mischievous Scamp (1:28)
- Dangerous Variant (1:37)
- Frigga (2:21)
- TVA Inner Workings (1:48)
- DB Cooper (1:35)
- Oshkosh, 1985 (1:53)
- Catch Up (1:37)
- Jet Ski (2:11)
- Glorious Purpose (2:34)
- The Archives (2:08)
- Salina, 1858 (1:39)
- Roxxcart, 2050 (2:06)
- I Miss Randy (1:52)
- Reset Charges (2:27)
- TVA Title Card (1:38)
- Very Full (1:25)
- Lamentis‐1, 2077 (1:54)
Total length: 49 minutes
Episodes 4-6
- Headless (2:17)
- Temptation (2:12)
- Pep Talk (4:04)
- Wild (4:05)
- Time Loop (2:13)
- Lokius (3:00)
- Alligator Bite (3:11)
- God of Outcasts (2:53)
- Reunion (2:37)
- Secret Hide Out (1:51)
- Goodbyes (3:26)
- Living Storm (2:18)
- Classic Builds (2:41)
- Time (2:45)
- Pruned (2:44)
- Ravonna’s Mission (2:07)
- B15’s Memories (1:24)
- Ohio, 2018 (2:55)
- Fibbed (4:12)
- Stop (3:17)
- Be (4:58)
- Back in the TVA (2:12)
- He Who Remains (2:55)
Total length: 1 hour and 6 minutes
Hollywood Records (2021)
