Uncut Gems (soundtrack)

Film co-director Josh Safdie worked closely with Lopatin on the score, which began with a "Frankenstein" score using library and new-age music before Lopatin began sketching out compositions.[5] Safdie described the soundtrack as "a medicinal new-age soul of a film," in contrast to the "pulse" of their previous collaboration Good Time.[5] Lopatin described it as "more beautiful, ethereal, it's more orchestral, it’s goofier."[5]

The "cosmically synthesized" score uses a Moog One synthesizer, and draws inspiration from artists such as Isao Tomita, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis,[6] as well as the 1970s-80s new-age duo Emerald Web.[5] Lopatin and Safdie used Moog's synthesizer library and Omnisphere to search for "earthy melancholic sounds that had a cosmic twist," as well as saxophone and a choir.[5] The track "Fuck You, Howard" is a reinterpretation of Haydn's Symphony No. 88,[5] while "Windows" is a homage to "Kaneda's theme" from the anime film Akira.[7]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Exclaim!	7/10[8]
The Guardian	[9]
The Line of Best Fit	9/10[10]
Mojo	[3]
Pitchfork	7.4/10[11]
Uncut	[3]

At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 6 mainstream critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[3]

Thomas Johnson of The Line of Best Fit called the album "further proof Lopatin will be held in the same esteem as Ennio Morricone, John Carpenter, Vangelis and so on."[10] He stated that the album is "filled with heartfelt synth lines, gorgeous revolving, spacey sequences and emotive samples" in contrast to his narrower score for Good Time.[10] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian wrote that "lesser composers try to merely mirror the action on screen and intensify it, boringly magnifying your emotions."[9] He added, "Lopatin is showing how contradictory, confusing and vital our dumb human impulses are."[9] Mina Tavakoli of Pitchfork stated that the score "has a large blast radius in the movie, itself a funny character in an ensemble of unintentionally funny characters."[11] Matthew Clark of Exclaim! wrote: "Not only does this collection of music have a cinematic quality that lends it its soundtrack purpose, it also stands alone as an engaging set of songs and motifs on their own."[8]

Credits adapted from liner notes. Some tracks are intercut with dialogue from the film.[12]

• Phillips, Lior (December 21, 2019). "Composer of the Year Daniel Lopatin on Scoring the Anxiety of Uncut Gems and Winning Over the Safdie Brothers". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

• Uncut Gems at Discogs (list of releases)