Raya and the Last Dragon (soundtrack) explained

Raya and the Last Dragon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Type:soundtrack
Artist:James Newton Howard
Cover:Raya and the Last Dragon Soundtrack.jpg
Recorded:2020–2021
Genre:Film score
Length:1:09:51
Label:Walt Disney Records
Producer:James Newton Howard

Raya and the Last Dragon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2021 animated film Raya and the Last Dragon. The film score was composed by James Newton Howard, scoring an animated film for the first time in 19 years since Disney's Treasure Planet (2002). The album features 24 tracks and was released by Walt Disney Records on February 26, 2021. Jhené Aiko wrote and performed a song entitled "Lead the Way" for the end credits.

Development

James Newton Howard signed the project in November 2019, while he was also scoring for Paul Greengrass' News of the World (2020). Don Hall presented him storyboards, rough animation and character sketches, prior to his inclusion and Howard felt that "Somehow or another, you get used to it and you find yourself becoming moved by a couple of static drawings of the characters if the music is working".[1] The score has a "non-specific South Asian feel, while also having a touch of Indonesian gamelan" as well as "instruments originated from China to Vietnam, though many of them sound similar".[2]

The first theme he wrote for the film, was the main theme "Running on Raindrops". Howard also expressed about the difficulties he had on creating the 5-minute prologue as it was not only conveying the main themes, but also setting the tone. He used a Balinese jaw harp called genggong for the prologue theme. In addition, he also used various percussion instruments such as, skin drums, hand drums and rattles, a rarity in western music. Vocal harmonies were provided by New York-based singer Loire, who provided the war chants.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, film productions came into halt, delaying the scoring process. The recording began in October 2020 after the re-opening of Sony Scoring Stage, which was temporarily closed as a result of the lockdown restrictions. However, the capacity of the orchestra members were limited to 40 players per time, meaning that each of the musicians were doubled in the sound mixing to make it sound bigger than the orchestral music. Alan Meyerson worked on the sound mixing. In some cases, Howard used samples his crew put together in the final mixing.

Release

The score was released by Walt Disney Records on February 26, 2021, a week ahead of the film's release.[3] It features 23 tracks from Howard's song, including "Lead the Way", a single performed by Jhené Aiko was featured in the end credits.[4] The preview of the single was announced a week prior, on February 19,[5] and the music video was released on March 4.[6]

Filipino singer KZ Tandingan was hired as the performer of "Gabay" (Guide), Disney's first-ever Filipino-language song, in March 2021.[7] The track, the Filipino version of "Lead the Way", would be part of the film's soundtrack for the Filipino dub of the film. Allie Benedicto, studio marketing head of Disney Philippines, said the song "demonstrates our commitment to work with local creative talents to tell our stories in a locally relevant manner".[8] In a press release, Tandingan said she was grateful and proud to be singing in her native language as well as singing in a Disney film. She liked its messages of trust as well as coming together and uniting to change the world when feeling weak and alone.[9]

A cover of "Lead My Way", performed by K-pop musician Hyojung was released on March 5, 2021.[10]

Reception

Zanobard Reviews gave 6/10 to the score saying "James Newton Howard’s Raya And The Last Dragon is a disappointingly forgetful affair; a score consisting of an intriguing and at points genuinely breathtaking orchestral style but sadly very little substance bar a short and simple main theme that makes few appearances on album."[11] Music critic Alex Reif called the score as "masterful, delivering a score that is as varied as the film itself".[12] James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "The score isn’t as consistently full-bodied as Maleficent but it’s probably Howard’s most entertaining since then. The album undoubtedly doesn’t present the music in its strongest light – a fair bit could be trimmed from the middle section for a better listening experience – but it’s got good themes, exciting action music and as I said at the start, it doesn’t sound like you would expect it to, which is not something you could often say about a major score by an A-list film composer as established as James Newton Howard is. It’s a very entertaining score, positive and entertaining and it brings a smile to the face."[13]

Jonathan Broxton wrote "Raya and the Last Dragon is a joy; while it never quite reaches the heights of Maleficent or the Fantastic Beasts films, it is nevertheless a score with a lot of heart and warmth, plenty of energy, mysticism, emotion, power and scope, which blends the synthetic and the acoustic together in a way that is interesting, appropriate, and captures the spirit of Raya’s world."[14] Anton Smit of Soundtrack World wrote: "When you listen to the soundtrack carefully, however, you can find many hidden gems in there, with the beautiful main theme and the big emotional orchestral pieces as prime examples."[15] Filmtracks.com said "Aside from the composer's eclectic, worldly instrumental mish-mash, the mix of the score remains perhaps its biggest detriment, its soundscape sounding small in its orchestral portions and the synthetics punching you in the nose. Artistic risks were definitely taken here, and the rewards for the listener are frustratingly brief."[16]

Charts

Chart (2021)! scope="col"
Peakposition
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[17] 44

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryRecipientsResult
2021BMI Film & TV AwardsTheatrical FilmJames Newton Howard[18]
2022Annie AwardsBest Music - FeatureJames Newton Howard and Jhené Aiko[19]
Cinema Audio Society AwardsCinema Audio Society Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – AnimatedPaul McGrath (original dialogue mixer); David E. Fluhr, Gabriel Guy (re-recording mixers); Alan Meyerson(scoring mixer); Doc Kane (adr mixer); Scott Curtis (foley mixer)[20]
International Film Music Critics Association AwardsFilm Composer of the YearJames Newton Howard[21]
Best Original Score for an Animated FilmJames Newton Howard
Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR for Animated Feature FilmShannon Mills, Brad Semenoff MPSE, Nia Hansen, Samson Neslund, David C. Hughes, Cameron Barker, Chris Frazier, Steve Orlando, John Roesch MPSE, Shelley Roden MPSE, Jim Weidman, David Olson[22]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Allmusic:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Reif . Alex . 2021-03-25 . James Newton Howard Talks About Scoring Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon" and "The Jungle Cruise" in New "For Scores" Podcast Episode . 2022-07-27 . LaughingPlace.com . en-US . March 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210325143214/https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2021/03/24/james-newton-howard-talks-about-scoring-disneys-raya-and-the-last-dragon-and-the-jungle-cruise-in-new-for-scores-podcast-episode/ . live .
  2. Web site: 2021-03-08 . Contender Profile: Composer James Newton Howard . 2022-07-27 . Below the Line . en-US . April 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210411070549/https://www.btlnews.com/industry-sector/film/composer-james-newton-howard/ . live .
  3. Web site: Howard . James Newton . February 26, 2021 . Raya and the Last Dragon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210608181545/https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B08WYSLPZ6 . June 8, 2021 . June 8, 2021 . Amazon.
  4. Web site: Neale . Matthew . 2021-02-28 . Listen to Jhené Aiko's hopeful new single 'Lead The Way' . 2022-07-27 . NME . en . January 10, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220110185511/https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/listen-to-jhene-aikos-hopeful-new-single-lead-the-way-2890838 . live .
  5. Mamo . Heran . February 19, 2021 . Preview Jhené Aiko's 'Lead the Way' in Disney's 'Raya and the Last Dragon' First Look . live . . https://web.archive.org/web/20210608181738/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/9528957/jhene-aiko-lead-the-way-new-song-raya-and-the-last-dragon-film/ . June 8, 2021 . June 21, 2021.
  6. Web site: 2021-03-05 . Jhené Aiko Is A Disney Princess In "Lead The Way" Visual From "Raya & The Last Dragon" . 2022-07-27 . HotNewHipHop . en . April 23, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210423072813/http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/jhen-aiko-is-a-disney-princess-in-lead-the-way-visual-from-raya-and-the-last-dragon-new-video.46468.html . live .
  7. News: Gwee . Karen . March 2, 2021 . KZ Tandingan to sing Disney's first-ever Filipino-language song for 'Raya and the Last Dragon' . . live . June 10, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210411185111/https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/kz-tandingan-to-sing-disneys-first-ever-filipino-language-song-for-raya-and-the-last-dragon-2892090 . April 11, 2021.
  8. Web site: Artists . Filipino . March 2, 2021 . KZ Tandingan sings Disney's first Filipino song, 'Gabay' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210411185136/https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/music/kz-tandingan-sings-disney-first-filipino-song-gabay . April 11, 2021 . June 10, 2021 . Rappler.
  9. Web site: John Cana . Paul . March 2, 2021 . The First-Ever Disney Song in Filipino Will Be Sung by KZ Tandingan . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210310053827/https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/music/first-ever-filipino-disney-song-kz-tandingan-a00289-20210302 . March 10, 2021 . June 10, 2021 . Esquire.
  10. Web site: Oh My Girl's Hyojung releases song for 'Raya and the Last Dragon' . 2022-07-27 . UPI . en . April 18, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220418080610/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2021/03/05/korea-Hyojung-Lead-Way-Raya-Dragon-soundtrack-song-music-video/5621614968055/ . live .
  11. Web site: Zanobard . 2021-03-05 . Raya And The Last Dragon – Soundtrack Review . 2022-07-27 . Zanobard Reviews . en . July 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210730062702/https://zanobardreviews.com/2021/03/05/raya-and-the-last-dragon-soundtrack-review/ . live .
  12. Web site: Reif . Alex . 2021-02-26 . Soundtrack Review: "Raya and the Last Dragon" by James Newton Howard and Jhené Aiko . 2022-07-27 . LaughingPlace.com . en-US . February 26, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210226224647/https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2021/02/26/soundtrack-review-raya-and-the-last-dragon/ . live .
  13. Web site: 2021-02-28 . Raya and the Last Dragon soundtrack review James Newton Howard movie-wave.net . 2022-07-27 . en-GB . June 15, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210615062643/http://www.movie-wave.net/raya-and-the-last-dragon/ . live .
  14. Web site: 2021-03-09 . RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON – James Newton Howard . 2022-07-27 . MOVIE MUSIC UK . en . February 15, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220215075800/https://moviemusicuk.us/2021/03/09/raya-and-the-last-dragon-james-newton-howard/ . live .
  15. Web site: Raya and the Last Dragon – James Newton Howard – Soundtrack World . March 23, 2021 . 2022-07-27 . en-US . June 24, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624234637/https://soundtrackworld.com/2021/03/raya-and-the-last-dragon-james-newton-howard/ . live .
  16. Web site: Filmtracks: Raya and the Last Dragon (James Newton Howard) . 2022-07-27 . www.filmtracks.com . May 26, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220526151328/https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/raya_dragon.html . live .
  17. Web site: Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50 . 2022-07-27 . . en . July 27, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220727234228/https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/soundtrack-albums-chart/20210305/140/ . live .
  18. Web site: 2021 BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220403131558/https://www.bmi.com/award-shows/film-tv-2021/ . April 3, 2022 . 2022-02-08 . BMI.com.
  19. Web site: Giardina . Carolyn . 2021-12-21 . 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Leads 2022 Annie Awards Feature Nominations . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220105175951/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/annie-awards-raya-and-the-last-dragon-leads-2022-nominations-1235065364/ . January 5, 2022 . 2021-12-21 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US.
  20. Web site: Tangcay . Jazz . 2022-01-25 . 'West Side Story,' 'No Time to Die' and 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Among Cinema Audio Society Nominations . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212050750/https://variety.com/2022/artisans/awards/cinema-audio-society-nominations-spider-man-no-time-to-die-dune-1235162214/ . February 12, 2022 . 2022-02-07 . Variety . en-US.
  21. Web site: 2022-02-17 . 2021 IFMCA Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221005213845/http://filmmusiccritics.org/awards-archive/2021-ifmca-awards/ . October 5, 2022 . 2022-02-17 . IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association . en-US.
  22. Web site: Pedersen . Erik . 2022-01-24 . Golden Reel Awards: Sound Editors Crank Up Nominations For 69th Annual Ceremony . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220125011419/https://deadline.com/2022/01/golden-reel-awards-2022-nominations-motion-picture-sound-editors-1234918482/ . January 25, 2022 . 2022-02-07 . Deadline . en-US.

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