Original score from the 2020 drama feature film directed by Phil Connell, starring Cloris Leachman, Jayne Eastwood and Linda Kash, produced by Big Island Productions and released by Breaking Glass Pictures (USA), Cinemien (Germany) and Outplay (France).

THE STORY: A rookie drag queen, reeling from a break-up, escapes to the country, where he finds his grandmother in steep decline yet desperate to avoid the local nursing home.

THE SCORE: “Creating the score for Jump, Darling presented an exciting challenge. As the story of an aspiring drag performer’s journey to find himself, music already played such an integral role to the narrative; the film is brimming with fantastic indie synth-pop needledrops. The director’s brief was to create a score that stood distinctly apart from this modern sensibility, with a clear, memorable and melodramatic theme invoking melodies and aesthetics of classic family dramas, while also finding a common thread to nod to the modern music in Russell’s life and craft. To achieve the former, I used a combination of warm, felt pianos and lush, swirling, almost ambient strings. For the more modern aspects, I drew on analog synthesizers, harmochord organs propulsed into motion by delays, and sidechaining (a technique common in modern electronic music production). The score is anchored by 2 contrasting themes, each residing in the same musical key: Russell’s theme, one of hope and movement, tinged with hints of uncertainty; and his grandfather Nathan’s theme, imbued with a melancholic tone. Ironically, young Russell’s theme is scored by the more classic orchestral instruments, and his grandfather’s theme is played mostly by the synthesizers and more modern elements. Putting them in the same key allowed me to ebb and flow between the two themes and aesthetics, ultimately joining them together in bittersweet harmony for the film’s final, climactic cue.” – Harry Knaznan

THE COMPOSER: Harry Knazan is a Toronto based composer, sound designer, and audio engineer. With a background in orchestral percussion and a B.A. from McGill University in Cultural Studies and Music Technology, Harry has over 10 years of experience working in the music and post audio industries. He has worked on national and international advertising campaigns, before founding Oso Audio in 2021. In addition, he has worked on projects that have been recognized by the Polaris Prize (Lido Pimienta), the Hot Docs International Film Festival (Unarmed Verses), the BET awards (Drake, God’s Plan), and the Juno Awards (A Tribe Called Red).

MMS22021 JUMP, DARLING (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed by HARRY KNAZAN
Release date (digital): May 27, 2022