Rio 2

John Powell's score available on April 8th 2014

Sony Music will be releasing John Powell's score to Rio 2 on April 8th 2014. After 2 years of absence John Powell returns to the filmmusic scene with his score to the animation film Rio 2. Powell also wrote the music for the first Rio film. Exotic samba rhythm's are key in this score. The association with Rio de Janeiro makes the film highly topical ahead of the 2014 football World Cup, and the score of RIO 2 closely involves local artists: UAKTI, an instrumental group; Milton Nascimento, a well-known Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist; the singer Carlinhos Brown, whose musical style blends tropicália, reggae and traditional Brazilian percussion; and the Barbatuques, leading exponents of body percussion, who make organic music using the body as an instrument. The Barbatuques performed at the special Fifa event for the official announcement of the logo of the 2014 World Cup. These Brazilian artists add even more sparkle to Powell’s lively music, starting off with the samba version of the famous 20th Century Fox Fanfare and going on with Carlinhos Brown’s infectious percussion in the second track. In “Over the Falls” Powell displays the enchantment and comic effect that make him a go-to composer for animated films, and UAKTI provide musical pyrotechnics for the track “Fireworks on the Roof” as well as foot-tapping percussion in “Sideshow Freaks”. Other numbers have wonderful variety – “River Boat to the Loggers”, for example, moves from laid-back dance music to catchy vocals and finally to the sounds and suspense of the river jungle, with a range of wild-life sounds that come back in the following tracks. Towards the end of the album, the title “Tantrums Lead to Explosions” is surprisingly melodious, and the final track combines beating crescendos with vocals and serene melody. The total playtime of this album is 55 minutes.

There is more good news for John Powell fans because besides writing the score to this tropical adventure, he will also be writing the score to another much anticipated animation film, namely How To Train Your Dragon 2. This film will be in theaters in June 2014.

Track list

1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare (RIO 2 samba version) (0:24)
2. Batucada Pagode featuring Carlinhos Brown (1:36)
3. Over the Falls featuring Milton Nascimento (3:39)
4. Breakfast in Rio (3:08)
5. Fireworks on the Roof featuring UAKTI (1:27)
6. Traveling Family (1:59)
7. Sideshow Freaks featuring UAKTI (3:09)
8. Stalking the Ferry (2:07)
9. River Boat to the Loggers featuring Carlinhos Brown and UAKTI (2:59)
10. Escorted to the Clan featuring UAKTI and Barbatuques (5:41)
11. Up Carla’s Monkey featuring UAKTI (2:16)
12. Spider Invite featuring UAKTI and Barbatuques (2:46)
13. Humans Are Longer Than They Told Me featuring UAKTI (2:23)
14. Tongue-a-pult to Blu’s Nightmare! (2:08)
15. Red Bullies featuring Uakti (3:19)
16. Tantrums Lead to Explosions featuring UAKTI (3:43)
17. Lollipops Are Bad for Your Teeth featuring Milton Nascimento, UAKTI, (3:55)
18. Battle for the Heart of the Forest featuring UAKTI and Barbatuques (4:46)
19. Romeo and Juliet’s Unfortunate Demise featuring UAKTI and Barbatuques (3:53)