Rach's Musical Brain - Throwbacks

I give you... the first instalment of Rach's Musical Brain for RachWatchesMovies!

I chose these first 10 tracks (and the next 10 to come) 4 years ago, and I knew there was a reason I was keeping them, and that I never gave up on that I wanted to continue blogging about what the tracks mean to me. Listening to them now, compared to 4 years ago, my love of music and the emotion it draws has grown, and what was a paragraph has now become much more than that.

As I did with the old blog, the current 10 is sat in this playlist, on my Spotify. Equally, if you want to visit the previous choices, from prior top 10s (which I will revisit sometimes!) you can find them at this playlist too!

So, without further ado, I introduce the first top 10s of this new blog to you... ENJOY!

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1 - You'd Never Know - Blu Eyes

I love Blu Eyes’ tracks. This is the first track I ever came across from her, and it hit home with the quiet intimate focus on hidden pain and the disconnect between outward appearance and inner reality. In other words, even though someone is smiling on the outside, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are smiling on the inside, which is sadly quite often the case. With delicate vocals, I feel like the song creates a sense of closeness… almost as if the listener is being let in on something deeply personal and unspoken.

Lyrically, it centres on the idea that someone can be struggling profoundly without showing it, as I’m sure we’ve all experienced, masking their emotions behind normality. I get the sense there is a quiet vulnerability in the delivery, with the avoidance of dramatic peaks in favour of the subtle shifts that make the emotion feel a lot more authentic and grounded.

I think the track’s strength lies in its understatement. Rather than tellling the listener how to feel, it leaves the space for individual interpretation, allowing the weight of the message to settle gradually. It focuses its resonance on themes of isolation, internal conflict and unseen battles, emphasising that you can sometimes never understand what people are going through, even if they tell you. It captures that quiet side of emotional struggle, where those significant feelings are often the least visible.

As someone who suffers from an immunosuppressive illness, and one that doesn’t really show any outward signs, this song hit home for me, and from the comments on the YouTube video link below, I can see that it hits home for many many others as well.

BLÜ EYES - you'd never know (Official Music Video)

2 - Sports Day - Adiescar Chase

Love meets love. Fear meets joy. Boy meets boy. Never has the word 'hi' had so much power and cuteness.

What a show Heartstopper was! I think, similar to Heated Rivalry at the moment, so many people resonated with what this show was bringing to the surface, about all kinds of issues that are still quite taboo, even now. The show follows Charlie, a gay teen, who has been outed the previous year, and it follows his friendship with Nick, that deepens into something more, as they navigate identity and first love.

This track is in the final episode, and it's a light, atmospheric instrumental piece that captures the warmth and emotional subtlety of everyday moments. Built around the familiar gentle synthesised piano motifs and soft textures, the track creates a sense of calm, innocence and quiet anticipation.

3 - The Rescuers - Lorne Balfe

This film was intense, all the way through. After a bank heist goes awry, two brothers end up high-jacking an ambulance after shooting a cop, all whilst being chased on the LA highway at peak rush hour.

Here, Lorne Balfe uses layering and gradual escalation, rather than sudden musical peaks. You hear the same motif all the way through the track, with subtle changes of key. The combination here, with the synthetic beats and cinematic orchestration, gives the film's final piece music a modern, adrenaline-fuelled edge, whilst still maintaining the emotional undertones beneath the action.

I watched this one without watching the trailer, completely green, and I don't think I even blinked throughout. The action is continuous and gripping, and the 3 leads, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza Gonzalez are all fantastic.

Lorne Balfe is someone I hadn't really come across when I heard this track, but since then, I've kept and eye and he features regularly. He assisted Hans Zimmer with the Top Gun Maverick soundtrack, and he does quite a lot of TV and game music as well.

This track, called The Rescuers, is played in the closing stages of the film, and I think it's a kind of homage to the real-life rescuers - paramedics, police and fire service - for all the great work they do. Whenever they put their lives on the line, it's all done without asking for anything in return.

4 - We Only Have Forever (Quiet) - Lights & Motion

Does anyone else have an Instagram algorithm that just knows where it’s at when it comes to calming tracks like this?

It's delicate and stripped back, and its centre forms around stillness, reflection and time. It's built around soft piano and ambient layers, and for me, the track creates an intimate, almost suspended atmosphere, emphasised by the fact a lot of the notes feel intentionally lingering.

I love the fact it has a deliberate absence of a dramatic build, but rather it allows any listener to sit in the moment. For me, when I listen to it and close my eyes, I get a sense of closing chapters and quiet realisations. It carries a calm and gentle sense of melancholy, but also warmth, perhaps suggesting that although those reflective moments are temporary, they are still meaningful.

When I listen to it, I picture a person sat on a bench looking over a skyline, sun setting in the distance, and as the music continues, the stars come out, lighting up a brilliant, starry sky. It's got that other-worldly feel about it, and I have quite a few similar to this in my main playlist, but this one is by far my favourite, and despite adding it in 2022, I still listen to it avidly 4 years later!

5 - Seasons of Love (HD) - Cast of Rent!

This song is one of my favourites from Rent. It opens Act 2 of the show, and shifts the focus of the play from individual struggles to the universal question of how should we measure a year in a human life? The song proposes that human life should be measured in love, life’s true value, that can expressed through connection, compassion and any shared experiences with loved ones.

The backdrop of the stage show is set against characters facing poverty, illness and uncertainty, and this song serves with gospel-inspired structure, and it reinforces the idea that despite any hardships, love remains the most meaningful measure of anyone’s time. It’s the thematic heart to Rent, reminding us as an audience, and the characters in the show, that life is not defined by how long we life, but rather how deeply we love… which is BEAUTIFUL.

6 - Seasons - Chris Cornell

I first came across Chris Cornell in the opening titles of James Bond, and every now and again, he pops back across the decks. Casino Royale came out in 2006, and then Man of Steel came along in 2013. Seasons was released in 1992, so its been around a while, but this one stuck with me. It’s a stripped-back, introspective acoustic track, and it explores isolation, identity and the passage of time. The song creates a raw, almost hypnotic atmosphere - built around unconventional guitar tuning and minimal instrumentation - and it mirrors the themes of inner conflict, and detachment from the world. There’s a quiet tension throughout the song, as it builds, giving it a haunting and contemplative tone, and it kind of gives the suggestion of a search for meaning, but without a clear resolution.

How its used in Man of Steel is poignant emphasis on Clark’s isolation. The track starts after the Oil Rig fire, and he’s stealing clothes to walk the wild, trying to figure out his place in the world. It underscores Clark’s journey of self-discovery, paired with the imagery of him drifting from place to place, and between identities. It reinforces the idea of Clark being caught between worlds, unsure of where he belongs, having always been isolated. It’s subdued, reflective mood contrasts with the film’s larger scale action, grounding Clark in a deeply human sense of loneliness… before his transition into what eventually becomes acceptance. It’s a powerful companion to stories of isolations and belonging, and it’s honestly, a lovely track!

7 - The Frozen Planet - Hans Zimmer, Adam Lukas, & James Everingham

This music is beautiful. It's a sweeping, atmospheric composition - no less than what we'd expect from our friend Hans - that captures both the beauty and the sometimes-unforgiving harshness of the Earth's polar regions. Combining the deep orchestral tones with the ethereal voice of AURORA (who is also in Frozen II btw!) the piece creates a sense of scale that almost feels otherworldly. It's both majestic and isolating.

As always with Hans Zimmer, his use of the slow, evolving layers allow the music to almost mirror the environment it's describing: expansive, powerful and timeless. There is also that deliberate sense of pacing to the track as well, with each progressions feeling a gradual reveal.

I love the scores to the Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Frozen Planet soundtracks. The pieces always underscore the duality of the natural world - both its breath-taking beauty and its inherent danger. The music evokes a sense of awe and vulnerability in equal measure, reflecting that extremely delicate balance of life in the extreme, frozen conditions. Paired with the legendary narration of David Attenborough, this music would bring tears to anyone's eyes.

8 - No Woman No Cry - Tems

Originally a Bob Marley classic, this track has been reimagined in a beautiful, soulful vocal delivery. The arrangement is minimal and intimate, but it allows the weight of the lyrics to take centre stage, as well as the emotion behind them.

I heard this in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and its played early on, during the film's opening sequence, which accompanies the hugely moving tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who had passed away in 2020. Its gentle tones create a powerful sense of mourning and reflection, and the style of Tems' voice transforms the song into something more fragile, shifting the focus from resilience to remembrance.

The themes of Wakanda Forever are grief, healing and quiet strength, and this song matches that perfectly. It's a grounding story of loss, but it also offers that sense of comfort and continuity as Shuri evolves and comes into her own by the end of the film.

I think its safe to say we were all heartbroken when it was announced Chadwick Boseman had passed away, and that he had been silently battling colon cancer whilst filming Avengers and Black Panther. It truly shows his dedication to his craft and the Black Panther story, and how much it meant to show it to the world.

9 - The Justice Society Theme - Lorne Balfe

Lorne Balfe strikes again! This time with a bold, character-driven ensemble piece that blends heroic orchestration with a modern, maybe-unconventional edge. The theme somehow feels both classic and fresh, drawing on the old comic book themes, and the traditional superhero motif, whilst also giving each element a distinct tonal identity.

The Justice Society Theme carries that strong sense of unity - that they're a team - but it may not be as clearcut and obvious. Instead, you have layered complexity, reflecting the fact the team is made up of such different personalities and powers. You've got the backbone of the brass and percussion, but then you also have those subtle electronic textures, with the melodic variations hinting at the mystery and unpredictability.

This theme underscores the arrival and presence of the Justice Society, and it positions them as a formidable force, but a force that isn't entirely straightforward. I love the fact it balances grandeur with individuality, and if you really put your ears to work, you can hear each of the hero themes within it.

10 - Black Adam Theme - Lorne Balfe

By contrast, we have the other theme within Black Adam, and that's his own theme. I couldn't do the Justice Society Theme and not do Black Adam's.

Black Adam's Theme is dark and imposing, very power-driven, which is built to reflect the fact Black Adam's character exists outside of the traditional scope of heroism. The track leans heavily on those same stringed baselines, low brass and percussion, but with the distorted electronic elements, it creates that awesome, sound that feels relentless and... mythic.

Compared to the Justice Society Theme above, this track doesn't have a triumphant release. Instead, the music sustains tension and dominance throughout. It starts as powerful as it ends. The choral elements and the harmonic add that godlike presence, reinforcing Black Adam as something ancient, powerful and morally ambiguous.

The theme underscores his role as an anti-hero... not quite a villain, but then also not quite a saviour - more of a force of nature!

Now, we all know how much excitement THAT post-credit scene brought. I for one was SO EXCITED for the prospect of a Henry Cavill Superman resurrection. We all lived in hope for a little while, or at least I did, but then the nail in that particular coffin came in 2023, with David Corenswet was announced as DC's new Superman.

Ah well. All great things have to come to end eventually right? But I feel like the new direction DC seem to be heading in brings hope in itself, and James Gunn is the best person to sit at its helm!

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So there we have the first of my 2022 playlist throwbacks, with 10 more to come! I really enjoy these, and reading back over my old blog (which you can find here) I can see how my musical brain has really come!