New Releases: January 2021

Here is a selection of recently released cinematic and trailer music albums that I got a chance to listen to throughout the month of January. Hope you find a few interesting tracks across these albums to add to your playlist!

Earth Tones

Earth Tones, Extreme Music's label making music geared towards nature documentaries, released their 15th album. Cities was produced by Bleeding Fingers - the team responsible for the scores to BBC series such as Planet Earth II or Blue Planet II. The composers behind this album's 13 tracks were Anže Rozman, Ho-Ling Tang, Sara Barone, Francis James Ralls, Dylan Price, Forest Christenson, Jonathan Shanes, David Christopher Naroth, Giacomo Lamparelli, Bruce Fingers, and Billie Ray Fingers. Just like all Earth Tones' albums so far, Cities was also promptly released to the public.

>> Cities is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Elbroar

The German production music library Elbroar started off this year with no less than five new trailer music albums in the first month itself.

The first of them, Ocean Masters, was composed by Gregory Tan and Edric Hwang. It consists of 12 epic drama and adventure tracks with a taste of fantasy and mystery. According to Warner/Chappell Production Music, "this elegant orchestral score offers a full-spectrum oceanic adventure spanning the mystical depths of the unknown to the swelling, majestic splendor of the wide blue wonder".

>> Ocean Masters is publicly available for streaming through Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

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The next album is Middle East Drama 2, composed in its entirety by Cankat Guenel. This sequel to Middle East Drama from 2019 contains suspense adventure and drama with Middle Eastern instruments evoking mystery. As the website says, this collection of 10 tracks "immediately casts a seductive, exotic spell and highlights traditional North African and Arabian instruments like the saz, doumbek and duduk. From poignant ballads to rhythmic score, from the mysterious to the melancholic - discover the magic of 1001 nights." My favorite tracks are Black Earth and Lost City of the Sands.

>> Middle East Drama 2 is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

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Land of the Rising Sun: Orchestral Japanese Fusion is an album of mostly epic adventure and drama with traditional Japanese elements. All 10 tracks were written by Kyle Booth. The description on the Warner/Chappell Production Music website characterizes the album as follows: "The spirit of traditional Japanese instruments like Koto, Shakuhachi and Taiko drums elegantly fusing with modern symphonic arrangements for high-octane adventure and epic excitement."

>> Land of the Rising Sun is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

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For a dose of trailerized blues-rock with male vocals, epic drums and strings, check out the album Come Back Harder which is the result of a collaboration between Ziggy Sullivin and Amadeus Indetzki. Before embarking on the 7-track journey, however, heed Elbroar's warning: "You're about to enter a bold, hybrid world where powerful, orchestral might meets raspy, blues-riddled rock vocals in these inventive trailer juggernauts. Featuring deep, insistent rhythmic momentum juxtaposed with heartfelt, sometimes fragile, vocals, these aggro-passionate anthems aim to ignite."

>> Come Back Harder is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

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Finally, Elbroar released the fourth installment of the Trailer Beast series (the previous three albums having come out between 2017 and 2019), all composed by the German award-winning and prolific composer Michael Maas. Trailer Beast, Vol. 4 will hit you hard with hybrid action, aggressive percussion, and heavy sound design the moment you play the first track. Warner/Chappell Production Music offers a perhaps somewhat more expressive description of the album: "The beasts are back and taking no prisoners with this collection of 12 death-defying, end-of-the-world trailer extravaganzas. Turbo-charged with ferocious hits and monstrous, hyper-driven percussion, these unstoppable calls-to-arm feature racing strings, rumbling low brass and frightmare goth choir to seal the deal. Picture the Gates of Hell."

>> Trailer Beast, Vol. 4 is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Gothic Storm

Andrii Yefymov composed Gothic Storm's first album of this year, and the trailer music company's 68th overall, Enigma: Emotional Chamber Thrillers. It consists of 12 dramatic tracks built around mostly fast-paced string melodies, accompanied by powerful percussion and sound design, inciting feelings of tension, urgency, and mystery. Gothic Storm characterizes the album's music as "elevated modern crime mysteries with live Ukrainian chamber strings".

>> Enigma is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music.

Jo Blankenburg

Jo Blankenburg released four solo albums last year, each of a very different style, yet a new year has only just begun and we already get to listen to another new album of his! And that one containing 19 tracks, amounting to more than an hour of music. It's called Memoirs. Jo has certainly been experimenting a lot with his compositions over the past few years, which makes me all the more excited to listen to his albums as soon as they get released. This album, released through Position Music, could be classified as something between classical crossover and experimental contemporary classical music, based on piano melodies and experimental sounds (often produced by the piano itself) intertwined with strings.

Jo notes in a Facebook post that remembrance, reminiscence and retrospection are the album's overarching concept. He goes on to say: "Every track is a tiny emotional snapshot of a life event that I wanted to capture. Things that spun me out of control. Things that challenged me to the core. The brightest joy I’ve experienced and the darkest valleys of despair I’ve wandered." If you're interested in learning more about the background of Memoirs, read Jo's blog post on his website. My favorite tracks from the album are Rondo Grosso and Perpetuum.

>> Memoirs is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and for purchase on Bandcamp.

Kings & Creatures

After the most productive year for Kings & Creatures (seven albums released in 2020), Position Music releases yet another album of theirs. Blood Relic was composed by the duo Kas-Tro. This album is a little lighter on sound design (but just a little!) and a bit more melodic than Kings & Creatures' many albums. It delivers 8 tracks of dark hybrid orchestral action and drama that will cause the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

>> Blood Relic is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Score Addiction

Score Addiction's first release of 2021, Snow Queen Chronicles: Light & Dark Shades of Fantasy Drama, is particularly well suited for the remaining month or so of longer winter nights. As the subtitle suggests, the album offers a mixture of suspenseful dark fantasy and light magical fantasy tracks shrouded in mystery. It features Jordan Rees and Samuel Griffiths on the first track, while the remaining 9 tracks were written by Victoria Beits.

>> Snow Queen Chronicles is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Score Production Music

Score Production Music has already released several albums this year, but Fresh Trailers is the first truly trailer music one. Its 10 tracks composed by Toby Bricheno are a varied collection of epic and hybrid action and drama tracks with a lot of heavy sound design. Or as the company's website says, the album offers "a fresh take on a popular genre. Huge orchestras, deep FX, gnarly brass, cranked guitars and extraordinary drama. Fresh Trailers contains beauty and brawn in equal measure, (with an extra helping of muscle)."

>> Fresh Trailers is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Seventh Sense

The 46th addition to the Seventh Sense library is called Pleximetry, and features 7 tracks, as is always the case with albums from Seventh Sense. They are dark percussion- and sound design-driven tracks evoking feelings of tension and anticipation. Five of the tracks on this album were composed by Zelig Sound, and the remaining two by Huw White.

>> Pleximetry is an industry-only release available for preview and licensing on the Universal Production Music website.

Songs To Your Eyes

Hitchcock is an aptly named recent release by Songs To Your Eyes which will mainly be of interest to fans of classic horror movies. It "pays homage to the avant garde, bizarre horror sound of the 60s. Haunted, screeching melodies that will send shivers and uneasy feeling up your spine," says Songs To Your Eyes' description. Make sure to listen to this album after dark for the best experience. All 10 tracks were written by Jean-Marc Yee.

>> Hitchcock is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Soundcritters

Kai Hartwig's library Soundcritters saw a new addition in January which appears like the first release in a series of albums aimed at space documentaries. The Solartones Project: Mars contains 10 tracks of epic sci-fi drama. Soundcritters' Bandcamp page says the following about the album: "The Universe - vast black space. The red dot called Mars is what mankind is heading for. Fine analog Synthesizers are mixed with majestic epic orchestral parts. Perfect for Documentary and Films about space and the universe."

>> The Solartones Project: Mars is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and for purchase on Bandcamp.

The 13 Brotherhood

No Time for Mercy marks the 30th release of The 13 Brotherhood, Extreme Music's label introduced in 2012. While The 13 Brotherhood's music is in general mostly all about percussion and dark, menacing sound design, this album is pure rock hybrid action with orchestra and choir and, of course, some sound design too. With only 6 tracks it's more of an EP, but each of the tracks is two to four minutes long. The album was composed by Dexter "Dex" Seamus.

>> No Time for Mercy is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Twisted Jukebox

The UK-based Twisted Jukebox production music company has been supplying a steady stream of good new trailer music year after year for over a decade now, despite trailer music not being their sole focus. They recently made ten new albums available for listening on their website, five out of which I chose to introduce below (the others are mostly pop- and EDM-based production music).

Guitar Tensions is an album full of suspense created by combining subtle guitar riffs (both acoustic and electric) with dark and mysterious sound design, and the occasional strings for added tension. "Perfect for crime, drama, sci-fi, gameshows and quizzes," as Twisted Jukebox advertises. The album's 10 tracks were composed by Cevin Kehm.

>> Guitar Tensions is an industry-only release available for preview and licensing on the Twisted Jukebox website.

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On a lighter note, Twisted Jukebox released an album of "quirky, witty and charming orchestral dramedy with a splash of eastern European eccentricity". Orchestral Dramedy contains 14 tracks written by Lincoln Jaeger, Cale Pellick, Jamie Wright, with Andrew Hind also responsible for one track.

>> Orchestral Dramedy is an industry-only release available for preview and licensing on the Twisted Jukebox website.

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Now, Action is a different breed altogether. The album's title may be somewhat short and uninspired, but it's to the point. Packed with modern electronic hybrid action and melodic sound design, each of its 11 tracks will throw you right back in your seat! Twisted Jukebox's album description reads: "High energy, adrenaline packed, ripping synth riff Action Movie trailer sound design music. Turn your trailer up to maximum intensity." The album is the product of a combined effort of four composers: Dmitriy Mityukhin, Joseph Ioanna, Kyle Booth, and Roman Veaceslav.

>> Action is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

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Take the above album Action, remove the melody and occasional strings, but leave the sound design, and then add some more, along with some frantic percussion, and you get the album Resistance. Or pretty damn close to it. Resistance is a collection of 10 slamming sound design tracks composed by Mervin Pillai. "Defeat the enemy, stand tall, resistance is the key" - that's what this album is all about, according to Twisted Jukebox.

>> Resistance is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

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Adding to the diversity of the most recent batch of albums released by Twisted Jukebox is No Surrender, an album of pure orchestral epicness. Okay, maybe with a dash of sound design, you know, just enough to give it a modern sound. Huge drums and choir are certainly not missing either in these 11 tracks. All music on this album was composed by Amadeus Indetzki. "When time's running out, the race is on but can they make it. No giving up, No SURRENDER!"

>> No Surrender is publicly available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

And that's a wrap, folks! I hope you liked the post - my first trailer music news post. I'll be back in a month with news about February releases, so stay tuned! In the meantime, let me know in the comments if you would like to see some additional details about new albums in future posts. Čau!

Jurik