Jonny Greenwood’s original soundtrack to Spencer, the Kristen Stewart-starring biopic about Princess Diana and the dissolution of her marriage to Prince Charles, is here. The Radiohead guitarist’s latest soundtrack endeavor is out now via Mercury KX, and can be streamed in full below via Apple Music or Spotify.
The Spencer soundtrack includes the previously-released single “Crucifix.” As that song title implies, this isn’t exactly the feel-good score of the year, especially considering the film’s premise: It follows a Christmas holiday in 1991, during which Diana contemplates leaving Charles amid rumors of his infidelity and the pressure of being married into England’s most famous family. It’s one of the earliest films to garner a good amount of Oscar buzz this season, and Greenwood certainly shouldn’t be overlooked in that department.
But this heartbreaking story about the People’s Princess requires an equally poignant composer like Greenwood, whose spare arrangements are a perfect fit for director Pablo Larraín’s subdued style. Mixing elements of baroque, jazz, and classical music, this is a soundtrack that would sound just as stunning in a castle as it does in your one-bedroom apartment (probably).
Greenwood has become one of the most sought-after film composers of the last decade or so, having scored Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread and Inherent Vice. He also handled the soundtrack for Lynne Ramsay’s 2018 thriller You Were Never Really Here, and next up, you can hear his work in Jane Campion’s forthcoming western drama The Power of the Dog.
