SOUDAIN Score by Samuel Andreyev Set for Album Release on Métier Records
The score features Andreyev on keyboards with flutist Ayako Okobu and percussionist Olivier Maurel.
Métier Records will release composer Samuel Andreyev's original score for SOUDAIN (All of a Sudden), the film from Academy Award-winning director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. The film was selected as a Palme d'Or nominee at the Cannes Film Festival, where its two female leads, Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, shared the Cannes Film Festival Prize for Best Actress.
Following the film's 19 June premiere in Japan, the first single, Soudain (Reprise), will be released on 17 July, and features as the film's hypnotic main theme. The complete album will be released digitally on 7 August before the 12 August film premiere in France, and will be followed soon after on vinyl LP.
Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi shared, 'I hope listeners will be struck by the delicacy of Samuel Andreyev's work. These pieces translate and bring to the surface the emotions hidden within the film. Without his profound ability to read the film, and his exceptional skill in musical construction, it would have been impossible to create music that continues to emit such subtle radiance. The soundtrack also includes pieces that were not used in the film, and even there one can sense an ongoing dialogue between the spirit of the film and Samuel himself. It is a truly remarkable work.'
At Hamaguchi's direction, Andreyev developed a score that provides a counterpoint to what's happening on screen, adding another layer of meaning throughout the film. With just 20 minutes of score across the entire film, each cue carries real weight. Hamaguchi asked Andreyev to record 10-15 versions of each section of the score, from which he would make the final selections. The Soudain album includes some of these alternate versions that did not end up appearing in the film. The resulting work features beautiful melodies and harmonies hinting at something more ambiguous.
Samuel Andreyev's compositions have been used for film before, but this is his first original, in-production film score. His music has a broad palette and is stylistically diverse. He is a classically trained composer but also a recording producer, presenter, and performer. Soudain follows Andreyev's Métier debut, In Glow of Like Seclusion (MEX 7719/MEL 12402), released November 2023.
Adapted from Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono's novel You and I – The Illness Suddenly Gets Worse and set in a Paris care home, SOUDAIN centers on themes of love, mortality, and connection. Andreyev's score involves three performers, with the composer playing keyboards alongside flutist Ayako Okobu and percussionist Olivier Maurel. The first single, Soudain (Reprise), will serve as the film's main theme ahead of the complete album's digital release.
