The First Purge (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the 2018 film The First Purge directed by Gerard McMurray, which is the fourth installment in the Purge franchise. Kevin Lax composed the score which was released through Back Lot Music on June 29, 2018.
Contents
Development
Kevin Lax composed the film score for The First Purge, replacing Nathan Whitehead who did the same for the predecessors. Lax wanted to keep the essence of the story by remaining consistent with the franchise sound, but in the process, add his own spin by incorporating more raw elements than the general approach of the previous films. Describing the political undertones, Lax considered the film to be provocative voicing the systemic, economic and racial injustices happening in the current world but also provide an entertainment factor. It further effectively understates why people want to take part in The Purge and adding a human element to it. The interesting and challenging aspect for Lax, was the film accommodated numerous shifts in the narrative and genre, ranging from horror, suspense, emotion and action, so keeping it in a unified pacing and congruous tonality was a challenge, and the score was mostly textural in nature opposed to the traditional thematic motives.
The soundtrack for The First Purge remained edgier than the predecessors, but also aggressive and emotional. Lax wanted to create a musical backdrop that contained several unique elements which was not forced, but naturally flow through it bringing a character to the score. Lax took references from the scores composed by Whitehead for the predecessors in order to create a cohesive score thereby compiling various themes, either textural, melodic or both. He had to understand the emotional level of the characters, the narrative arc and going into the drama and intensity of certain scenes, thereby going into the heads of the protagonists. Besides that he also referenced few horror music and unusual sounds, following the same process of his previous horror film Burning Sands (2017).
Lax used several pre-processed sounds included pulses, pads, percussions and analog synths and effect units to expand the sonic palette. He further used the field chants of Afro-American spiritual sounds to underscore the racial elements, while using hip hop and traditional scoring sensibilities for the rest of the score.
Release
Back Lot Music released the soundtrack on June 29, 2018, five days prior to the film's release.
Reception
David Edelstein of Vulture and Don Kaye of Den of Geek complimented the score as "bombastic" and "bone-chilling", while Dan Jackson of Thrillist and Austin K. Collins of Vanity Fair described it as "impulsive" and "synth-heavy". Ben Spurling of Movies and Mania wrote "composer Kevin Lax gives us some nice synth lines to go along with it".
Additional music
The following songs are featured in the film but not included in the soundtrack: