Leo (soundtrack)

"Bloody Sweet", the first song composed for Leo, was also cited by Anirudh as the fastest track he composed to that point.[15] The track that featured in the two-minute promo video, was performed by Anirudh and Siddharth Basrur,[16] and was released on 3 February 2023, the same date as the promo, albeit not being part of an official single on the album.[17][18]

"Naa Ready" was the first single from the film, sung by Vijay, along with Anirudh and Asal Kolaar, the latter performing rap portions; it was the fourth time Vijay had sung for Anirudh's composition after previously doing so for "Selfie Pulla" from Kaththi, "Kutti Story" from Master and "Jolly O Gymkhana" from Beast.[19] The song released coinciding Vijay's birthday (22 June 2023).[20] Although it was positively received by the audiences, it garnered criticism from politicians and activists over the glorification of smoking and drugs.[21][22] This resulted the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) instructed the team to modify the visuals and lyrics, with immediate effect on 9 September 2023.[23][24]

A song performed by Anirudh and Shakthisree Gopalan, was intended to be released as the second single from the album on 19 September (later deciphered to be "Villain Yaaru") but was not released on that date.[6] Instead, "Badass" was released as the second single from the album released on 28 September.[25] Lalit, through the X (formerly Twitter) Space, announced that a family song was composed for the film, set to be released as the third single from the album.[26] Titled "Anbenum", the song was sung by Anirudh with Lothika Jha performing the female vocals instead of Shakthisree, who would make her playback debut in Tamil,[27] and was earlier scheduled for release on 9 October.[26] However, it was officially released two days later.[28][29]

At the CII-Dakshin Media and Entertainment Summit,[30] Lalit who had participated in the event, said that he initiated plans for an audio launch event in southern part of Tamil Nadu, instead of Chennai,[31] and had zeroed on Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy as the venues.[32][33] In earlier August, it was reported that the film's audio launch will be instead held either in Malaysia or Dubai,[34][35] and they tentatively planned for the event at Axiata Arena indoor stadium in Kuala Lumpur during late-September or early-October.[35] However, plans for the event at Malaysia was being cancelled and the team instead planned to conduct the event at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.[36] Lalit later explained the reason for the cancellation as the venue was not available for their planned schedule.[37]

It was reported that the event would be held on 30 September at the said venue.[37] However, on 27 September, the producers confirmed that the event would be cancelled citing safety constraints,[38][39] while claiming that it was not due to political pressures.[40] Trade analysts claimed that the overflowing requests of passes for the event had led the producers to cancel it, as around 70,000 people had pre-booked their passes for the event, while the venue itself could accommodate an audience of 6,000–8,000, and poor management could lead to an unprecedented mishap.[41] They cited the catastrophic incident happened at A. R. Rahman's concert, three weeks prior in Chennai, as another reason for the cancellation.[42][43]

The Indian Express writing for the track "Naa Ready" called it a "typical Tamil ‘Kuthu’ number, which is sure to find lot of takers."[44] Priyanka Goud of Pinkvilla stated it as a "perfect mass anthem" with Vijay's vocals and dance performance "make for a perfect treat to fans".[45] Writing for the track "Badass", IndiaGlitz stated "Badass is Anirudh's super stylish tribute to Vijay's stardom. The track does complete justice to its title. It has powerful vocals by Anirudh and high octane lyrics penned by Vishnu Edavan."[46]

Reviewing for The Quint, Pratikshya Mishra found "Naa Ready" to be "brilliant" and "toe-tapping track" while for the rest of the album comes "comes across more juvenile than effective and this even more jarring".[47] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu summarised "The end credits soundtrack, the ‘I’m Scared’ surprise zinger, and the many callbacks to Vikram prove that composer Anirudh Ravichander remains the heartbeat of Lokesh’s Cinematic Universe."[48] Divya Nair of Rediff.com wrote Anirudh's "electrifying background music spices up the introduction and action sequences."[49] M. Suganth of The Times of India wrote Anirudh's music "peaks in the second half".[50] Janani K. of India Today summarised the music "amp up the masala moments quite well".[51]

Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express wrote "Anirudh Ravichander’s soundtrack and background score also contribute significantly to the movie’s momentum. Departing from his typical star-worship compositions, Anirudh infuses Leo with exceptional tracks, adding a distinctive touch to the film."[52] Priyanka Sundar of Firstpost wrote "Anirudh has yet again proved that his music can elevate a scene, add tension where required, hype wherever necessary and overall just keep the audiences hooked with sound."[53]

The track "Naa Ready" garnered 20 million views in 24 hours, setting the second highest viewed Tamil song in 24 hours, behind Vijay's own song "Arabic Kuthu" from Beast.[54] It also garnered 1.6 million likes in 24 hours becoming also the second highest liked Tamil song in 24 hours, behind the same song.[55] The song was also streamed 1 million times in Spotify in 24 hours.[56] The second single "Badass" crossed 13 million views in 24 hours.[57]