Jehnny Beth & Johnny Hostile OST XY Chelsea

Original Soundtrack for the Showtime produced movie based on the history of the whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Written and performed by Jehnny Beth & Johnny Hostile (singer and producer of post-punk band Savages). In 2018, director Tim Hawkins contacts Jehnny Beth and her life-long collaborator Johnny Hostile to ask if they would like to write the entire score for his new documentary about Chelsea Manning. For Hostile and Beth, this is an opportunity they have been preparing for. Hours of practicing instrumental compositions in Johnny Hostile’s Pop Noire studio could finally be put to great use. May 2018 and the pair starts working relentlessly until the end of summer. The relationship with Hawkins is fluid and easy. Same generation, same references, the director gives total freedom of interpretation to the musicians while offering a constructive frame of work to allow efficiency. Hawkins even admits to have lengthen his last scene in response to the enchanting piano track written by Johnny Hostile for the film’s ending. Manning’s portrait by Hawkins reveals the character’s humanity, her flaws, her doubts and her triumphs. Hostile and Beth have spent months looking at Manning on screen hit extreme high and low points while they try to transcribe as faithfully as they can all her emotions into sounds. The avoidance of manichean stands and predictable clichés in the film inspire the duo to write music with nuances, concentrating on deciphering the mysterious persona of one of the most important historical figures of our time.