For many people, the year 2025 starts on January 1st, but for me, as a soundtrack reviewer, it starts much later. During the first two months of the year, I am completely absorbed by the Award season, trying to catch up on as many scores as possible and relistening to many of them for the IFMCA and the eSWay Awards. With that period now behind me, I have started focusing on soundtracks that have come out already this year, and I wanted to use this first Spotlight article of 2025 to highlight some of them.
Civilization VII – Geoff Knorr, Roland Rizzo and Christopher Tin
One of the biggest and oldest gaming franchises is Civilization. It has had quite a successful run since its first game from 1991. When I think about the music from the games, the iconic song “Baba Yetu” from Civilization IV comes to mind, composed by Christopher Tin. Tin did not write the music for the next two games in the franchise, but he returned for Civilization VII in 2025, to write two fantastic cues for the game, being the main title and the music for the opening movie. Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo wrote the rest of the three-and-a-half hours of music to give the players something to listen to while they bring their civilization from the classical era all the way up to the modern age.
There are two things that I like about the score. The first thing is that many musical influences from around the world can be heard, from music performed on medieval instruments to throat singers from the East. The second thing is the two variations for many tracks on the album. One is for times of peace, and the other is when you, as a player, are at war, resulting in different versions and instrumentations on the same melody. If you have a couple of hours available, it is a pleasant score to listen to in the background, even when you are not playing the game.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – Mick Giacchino
The streaming service Disney+ keeps making shows in the Star Wars universe, with some hits and misses. One of the latest additions, Skeleton Crew, has been well received. The music for the show was written by upcoming composer Mick Giacchino, who, under the wing of his father, Michael Giacchino, as the score producer, was allowed to contribute his music to the well-known franchise.
The show is about four young teens who find themselves in space, which is full of mystery, wonder and danger, and the music reflects that concept. The music sounds very ‘Star Wars-y,’ as it is an orchestral score with some musical tropes you expect from a Star Wars score, but you can also hear the childlike innocence in the music. A great example is “Skeleton Crew End Credits,” which showcases the main theme very well, but Mick Giacchino also inherited the inclusion of suites on a soundtrack album from his father. If you are curious about the general feel of the music for the show, listen to the amazing suite “Suite from Star Wars Skeleton Crew,” which includes all the themes.
Juffrouw Pots – Jeffrey van Rossum, Thomas van der Burg, Federico Salazzo and Jurrian Steman
With Soundtrack World being based in the Netherlands, I have always focused on what is happening with film music in this country. One of the composers I have been following is Jeffrey van Rossum, who has collaborated with Thomas van der Burg on De Oneindige Slijmfilm. For Juffrouw Pots, they expanded their circle of collaboration even further by also working with Federico Salazzo and Jurrian Steman to write the music for this film.
Juffrouw Pots is a comedy, the most popular genre for theater films here in the Netherlands, and the four composers wrote a fun, primarily orchestral score for it to support the scenes. I did not find big themes in it, at least I could not hear it prominently as Van Rossum did marvelously for De Mannenmaker. However, it is still a delightful score to listen to in the background while doing something else, and I am delighted to see more new names in scores for Dutch media.
