Ólafur Arnalds Announces Soundtrack For Apple TV+ Thriller ‘Surface’

Groundbreaking Icelandic composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds has announced he will release his soundtrack for the forthcoming Apple thriller Surface on 29 July 2022, coinciding with the premiere of the series. His evocative soundtrack, written for cello, violin and electronics, sets the scene for the psychological drama.

Listen to the first single ‘Video Tape’

Surface stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Morning Show) as Sophie, a woman who has suffered a traumatic head injury that has left her with extreme memory loss. As she embarks on a quest to put the pieces of her life back together with the help of her husband and friends, she begins to question whether what she is told is in fact true.

Watch the trailer for Surface

Ólafur Arnalds described the inspirations for his soundtrack for Surface as follows, “One of the first things that came to my mind was to work with the idea of memory loss in the music. I created magnetic tape loops with simple motifs or ambiances. I then let those tape loops deteriorate over time until they started feeling distant and distorted. This turned out to be a very inspiring musical metaphor to build the rest of the score around. Somehow nostalgic but scary at the same time.”

Ólafur Arnalds’ soundtrack for Surface follows his BAFTA-winning score for British drama and international phenomenon Broadchurch.

The soundtrack coincides with the announcement of Ólafur Arnalds’ Some Kind Of Peace – Piano Reworks – a reimagining of his previous album, Some Kind Of Peace, featuring Grammy nominated tracks, ‘The Bottom Line’ (featuring Bonobo) and ‘Loom’ (featuring Josin). Ólafur Arnalds is currently on his Some Kind Of Peace world tour.

Stream ‘Video Tape’, the first single from Ólafur Arnalds’ soundtrack for Surface, here.