By Lorne Balfe

Watertower Music

 

For the third season of Pennyworth, Lorne Balfe, who scored season two returns, for another lovely trawl through 1960s-themed Spy-Fi in the Bat-verse.

This time the soundtrack opens with an interesting song, “Candlesticks And Caravans,” sung by Harriet Slater, who plays Sandra Onslow on the show. There’s a hint of a Bond vibe in some of the verses, but for the most part it comes across as more late ’60s psychedelia but in a mild format; you can imagine it being sung over a 1969 heist movie or Alistair MacLean adaption.

“Prison Break” is a masterclass in pastiching the late ’60s and early ’70s screen sound with a modern flair. It opens with a rhythmic hollow beat reminiscent of Morricone’s intro to The Untouchables, which is a bit later in period, but derives from his 1960s score from The Battle Of Algiers, and conjuring visions of Patrick McGoohan or Lee Marvin striding ominously towards the viewer (per The Prisoner or Point Blank respectively), before bringing in Lalo Schifrin Dirty Harry style drums, and then finally a modern faster sound to drive the track.

The spirit of Schifrin infuses quite a few tracks in this season’s score, as do the 60s love of blaring French horns (though not in a John Barry way) and sitars. In fact, the show having a time-jump to the end of the decade seems to have rather freed up Balfe from the original season’s sound, and given him free rein to enjoy more of a mixture of styles in this era that spans psychedelia, prog rock, and the electric guitar of “Electric Smash” coming to the forefront.

The themes are still present, but wider range of instruments and stylings, with the “Alfred Pennyworth” theme in particular rolling through electric guitar to wistful sax, to sitar. We also get a mix of jet-setting swooping trave horns in “Patrick Wayne” to carry us along, while “Virginia Devoreau” has a brisk military snare drum background.

These disparate elements all blend together beautifully, whether they’re truly evocative of the setting and era, or (with “Patrick Wayne” having more of a Thomas Newman Bond feel, and the swirling horns and sitars of some other tracks reminiscent of Michael Giacchino’s desert tracks from Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol) not, they all have a definite globe-hopping spy-fi sound that’s hugely listenable and envelops and transports the listener into a 1969 that never was, but is still full of dashing assassins and spies.

A lot of it is, it must be said, fairly familiar sounding in a good way, echoing the best kinds of scores from other IPs – “Frances Foulkes” even gets the Master’s four knock drum theme as inspiration – but this just helps provide the nostalgia, and helps showcase the original melodies and the show’s own theme. Tracks like “Gully Troy” and “Sykes’ Journey” really take you to exotic places in relaxed and exciting ways, both. “Gully’s Lament” is a lovely piece as well, with sensitivity and introspection.

Verdict: It’s simply wonderful; whether it be the time jump within the show, the change of network, or Balfe just being in the right zone at the right time, this is easily the best soundtrack of the franchise, and one of Balfe’s best overall. Totally worth the admission price for “Alfred Pennyworth” and “Prison Break” alone. 10/10

David A McIntee