Soul (soundtrack)

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (left) handled the score, while Jon Batiste (right) composed a number of original jazz songs.

During the 2019 D23 Expo, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were revealed to be composing the film's score, while Jon Batiste was set to be writing jazz songs for the film.[1] Reznor and Ross had been brought in on the recommendation of sound designer Ren Klyce, who had worked extensively with the duo in David Fincher films.[2] Batiste composed jazz music for the film's New York City sequences while Reznor and Ross wrote an instrumental score for the scenes taking place in the Great Before.[3] Batiste said that he wanted to create jazz music that felt "authentic", but also "accessible to all ages".[1] He also wanted the themes to tie into the "ethereal nature" of the Great Before while still being on Earth.[1] Batiste also sometimes worked with Reznor and Ross to "blend the two worlds, musically".[1] Cody Chesnutt also wrote, produced, and performed an original folk-soul ballad for the film, titled "Parting Ways".[4][5] It also features a hip hop interlude performed by Daveed Diggs titled "Rappin Ced".[4] Other musicians who were consulted during the creative process include Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington and Questlove, the latter of whom also does voice work in the film.[6] Batiste drew inspiration from and wanted to pay homage to jazz legends such as Roy Haynes, Harvey Mason, Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Charlie Parker and The Headhunters.[2] Batiste also arranged a new version of the song "It's All Right", originally performed by The Impressions, for the film.[7] This solo version debuted during a performance by Nelly on the 29th season of American competition TV series Dancing with the Stars[7] and is featured in the end credits of the film while a duet version with British soul singer Celeste is not included in the soundtrack.[8] In January 2021, Trent Reznor revealed to Consequence of Sound that he and Atticus Ross had composed six films' worth of music for Soul and also further explained his creative process, stating:[9]

As we started early on, it's like, "I can't wait to see this character"… that doesn't exist because he’s not even in the film anymore. Or this expansive moment where you're watching a beautiful scene for a minute and a half, which is now three seconds, because a joke popped up, and now it's a different thing. So, I think we started a lot earlier last time than we would in the future. But it was fascinating to see the process. And I remember as we were getting into it, they could say, "Let’s see. Trust the process. We’ve come up with a way to do this." And I don’t mean a factory assembly line, but a strategy of openness and collaboration between not just two or three or four or five people but possibly lots of people.

Soul: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released digitally on December 18, 2020, a week before that of the film. The two vinyl albums, namely Soul: Original Motion Picture Score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and Music from and Inspired by Soul by Jon Batiste, were also made available for purchase on December 18, 2020.[10][11][12][13][14] Despite not featuring on any of the three albums, the duet version of "It's All Right" with Celeste that features during the end credits was also released digitally as a standalone single on December 18.[15][16]

A week before the release of the film, the soundtrack album debuted on the UK Soundtrack Albums chart at number 35.[50] After the film was released on December 25, the soundtrack rose to number 12 on this chart and also was credited as two separated entries, one for score and one for soundtrack, on both Billboard's Soundtrack Albums chart and Current Album Sales chart.

All songs are written and performed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, except where noted.