Hidden Figures: The Album, produced by Pharrell Williams, is available everywhere today. The soundtrack features artists including Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Kim Burrell, Lalah Hathaway, and Janelle Monáe, who portrays Mary Jackson, one of three leading roles in the film.
We caught up with Pharrell’s c0-collaborator Benjamin Wallfisch on the score at the film’s New York premiere.
The film was phenomenal, the music was phenomenal. Talk about putting together the score for this?
Benjamin Wallfisch: Well, I got this phone call from my good friend and mentor Hans Zimmer. It was one of those calls where I put the phone down and just my jaw was open. I couldn’t believe this incredible opportunity which he invited me to be a part of this team of himself and Pharrell Williams. He told me a little bit about the movie but not very much. When it came to a couple of days later we sat together and watched the film together. I just honestly, I don’t think I’ve cried so much in front of them. I don’t normally cry from movies but just the sheer … It’s such an emotionally potent movie. Also the fact that this is a story which hasn’t been told, it’s so overdue. In the context of how important it is to just celebrate women and celebrate the power of the intellect of these women it was very special for me to be a part of that.
You mentioned Pharrell briefly, talk about working with him.
Benjamin Wallfisch: Well, there was always three of us. Hans, Pharrell, and myself, yeah. Really it was very simple. It’s this idea if you can imagine what it must be like for a band of three or a few songwriters getting together in the studio and just writing songs together it was very similar. We would just spend days experimenting with ideas, with sounds, with musical attitudes. The key thing was just finding the tone and not doing just another space score or just another math score. We have these three African American women, how do we celebrate that African American musical culture in a dramatic movie score where math is also the hero? It’s sort of really questioning and exploring and challenging our preconceptions for what a movie score should be and bouncing ideas off each other. It was just an incredible creative, there’s a lot of creative momentum in the room. We just spent days in the studio together and made it happen.
The movie is set in the 60’s, was that also an inspiration for you guys?
Benjamin Wallfisch: It was. For me personally one of the biggest inspirations there was actually Pharrell’s songs where he somehow managed to capture the essence of the 60’s, the rhythm, the way it makes you want to move but the songs are almost timeless. There were really incredible songs back then so being inspired by those and actually finding a way for the orchestral score and the underscore, the composed score to just be a companion to the songs. They all come from sort of the same family. Rather than think about 60’s music in isolation it was more about how did Pharrell interpret the idea of the 60’s?
Hidden Figures: The Album Tracklisting:
1. Runnin’- featuring Pharrell Williams
2. Crave – featuring Pharrell Williams
3. Surrender – featuring Lalah Hathaway and Pharrell Williams
4. Mirage – featuring Mary J. Blige
5. Able – featuring Pharrell Williams
6. Apple – featuring Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams
7. Isn’t This The World – featuring Janelle Monáe
8. Crystal Clear – featuring Pharrell Williams
9. Jalapeño – featuring Janelle Monáe and Pharrell Williams
10. I See A Victory – featuring Kim Burrell and Pharrell Williams
Additional footage:
“I See A Victory” Lyric Video
“I See A Victory (Live at TIFF)” – Kim Burrell and Pharrell Williams
“Surrender (Live at TIFF)” – Lalah Hathaway and Pharrell Williams
“Runnin’ (Live at TIFF)” – Pharrell Williams