The next chapter in the DC Universe, Lanterns, has just hit TV, and it’s a tonal shift from previous incarnations of the galactic space-cop. While the cosmic side of Green Lantern has always been at the forefront across his appearances in DC Animated Universe and the 2010 movie starring Ryan Reynolds, Lanterns grounds the character with a slow-burning mystery on Earth. It’s a gritty detective story with cosmic dread so far, and in the background, there’s a soundtrack that draws inspiration from ’90s rock and grunge to give the show its audio character.
Composed by Stephanie Economou–the first-ever Grammy winner for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media–Lanterns also features experimental sonic landscapes, which Economou says helped to develop a dark and emotional tone for the HBO series.
“I started by writing some of the character themes. John’s in particular, the first thing I wrote for his theme was this lonely, strummed baritone rubber-bridge guitar, which is very kind of reminiscent of Nirvana, and I wanted to write a bass riff for him that was very steady and measured.”
“And then when I wanted to write something for Hal, I knew that I also wanted something rock there because it just worked for him. He’s more garage rock, like early Black Keys, sort of like swaggery, rough around the edges, unruly cowboy kind of thing.”
“We hear Hal’s theme in a very different context and a different timeline. It’s more ambient; it’s icier. John’s theme, you know, becomes reharmonized. There’s like a trip-hop treatment of his theme later on in the series that offers like a different edge and danger.”
For the main Lanterns theme, Economou says she mixed drama, synth, and a subtle layer of instability to create a unique track that also paid tribute to the IP’s legacy. “I wanted to write something really big, dramatic, powerful, and proud, and really lean into the sci-fi element of it. I think, more than any of the other themes in the show,” Economou explained. “There’s bending synths going from chord to chord. There’s like a sense of instability and fear, but also anticipation, and I tried to create a really unique sound world whenever that theme is played, to highlight the legacy of the Lantern Corps.
While Economou says she had a ton of fun crafting the music for Hal Jordan and John Stewart, coming up with the music for the merciless Manhunters also allowed her to put her spin on a “classic baddie” theme. “[It] needed to be like a real classic baddie theme, and it’s a really simple tune,” Economou said. “But I needed to give it this edge, and I wanted to process it in a way that felt really, every time you hear it, ‘Oh shit, those are the Manhunters.’”
As someone who has worked on video game soundtracks, Economou says she was able to bring lessons learned from those projects to film and television, particularly the storytelling element that video game soundtracks are known for.
“I really love working in games because you get to live in the music for a really long time, and I recognize the responsibility that a composer has in that gaming experience,” Economou explained. “So I always want to pay as close attention as possible to how the music is telling the story and creating variations with themes, small evolutions, and reharmonizations. In game music, the verticality is so important, and that layered aspect of the storytelling is really crucial for how the player experiences the music.”
“And so, I think that sense of layering, breaking down, building up, and experimenting with the different levels of arrangement that you do when you implement music into a game is a nice thing to have that perspective when you’re writing outside of the game. We don’t have to worry about the level of interactivity in a TV show or a film, but why not try to make it as immersive an experience as possible for the listener? Even if it’s not for a game.”
As the first composer to win a Grammy for a video game soundtrack, Economou added that the prestige associated with it has helped show game publishers and studios just how valuable the music is, not just in a game, but outside of it as well.
“I think game audiences in particular have celebrated this music for so long that by the time the Grammy category came around, they were like,’Finally, what took so long?’ There are so many retroactive Grammys due to composers who have defined the sound of video game music. For everybody else, I do think it proved what many of us already knew: that game music is an important part of the zeitgeist and has shaped what media music means. Having all these live concerts around the world with game music, and seeing how many people love to go listen to it, is a real testament to how rich this art form is.”
“Game companies are understanding the value of music even more than they already did, and perhaps maybe putting more backing into pushing for awards because the visibility is so important for composers to have. You have it at the Oscars, you have it at the Emmys, and for game composers who primarily do game work, not having that same kind of visibility is really such a shame. “They see how important a part of the storytelling music really is.”
Lanterns premiered on HBO on August 16, and the eight-episode series will run through October 4.
