“The Idol” has been the spite watch of the TV season the strictness — a mess of unsustainably dated misogyny, homophobia, angry interpersonal sexual assault, and traumatic haircuts, all justified in reminding the world: never trust a dude with a rat tail.
Despite this, the show’s icily epic music – crafted by the creators and actors, in and out of character – is mesmerizing… exhilarating, even. The music was initially split into a series of EPs released between June 9 and 30, and now those weekly teasers are captured in full on “The Idol (Music from the HBO Original Series),” a much more satisfying soundtrack. and cohesive document than its television counterpart.
The collection begins with “The Lure (Main Theme)” by The Weeknd and Mike Dean – aka “muthafucking” Mike Dean, the self-professed stoner, vintage-synth-heavy producer-composer who played an elevated version of himself on the series with more bonbon smoke than a Cheech & Chong movie. With that intro, the makers pull you into a palpable sonic atmosphere that is chilly and slimy. If clamminess — clammy atmosphere — was never a genre before “The Idol,” then members of the Grammy committee, took notice.
The template for that dank, dramatic tone gives The Weeknd some of the best sound beds of his career, whether in ballad or banger form. If, as he has stated in interviews, he was looking for a soundtrack to his “Idol” story, which borrowed from the grand theatricality of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and Prince’s “Purple Rain,” as he propelled himself to a higher level, then he will go a long way towards accomplishing that mission here.
Sure, many of Weeknd’s songs are lyrically a bit on the nose when it comes to representing the sinister, greedy control freak within the role of Tedros and the action that takes place on screen. Still, singing in character has honed The Weeknd’s instincts as a singer while broadening the cinematic breadth he shares with co-writer Dean, in a way that could be memorable to listeners even if they haven’t seen “The Idol.” .
There’s an uplifting elegance and a decaying, down-tuned melody in the Weeknd’s “Like a God” and “False Idols” (a collaboration with Lil Baby and Suzanna Son). The first speaks of the reign of a divine overseer, “making you hurt again, so that you can heal and say ‘Amen’.” The latter, as heard during the (apparent) finale of ‘The Idol’, reminds us and his other characters to “Be careful who you call a God, I can’t live without my pole and my fishing rod… One hundred million earned, must be good at my job.”
The whistling melody line and foot-stomping pulse of “A Lesser Man,” along with an 80s-heavy “Take Me Back,” bring in a quivering voice from Weeknd — or Tedros — revealing deep, bluesman-like. “Far away from my home, in this hot-ass town, my blood’s still cold,” he sings on the former, automatically attuning his own past and his vulnerability with “I’ve been manipulating a hundred times” on the latter.
These last two songs are so noirish and haunting that they would sound perfectly at home on his 2020 album ‘After Hours’. Yet little prepares us for the naked defenselessness of ‘Jealous Guy’. Covering John Lennon’s quivering, most emotive lyrics with the accompaniment of Dean’s breezy, barely there soundscape is brilliant. Perhaps Tedros plays a brand of emotional rope-a-dope with the oft-staged characters of “The Idol,” but The Weeknd forever plays with that poignant, heart-wrenching voice.
Painting a (Manson) family portrait of those who chose to follow Tedros’ mean screed are songs like “Get It B4,” “False Idols,” and “Family.” “Idol” co-star and angelic vocalist Moses Sumney’s shimmering “Get It B4” is the fam’s solo highlight, and its most rhythmic. Featuring The Weeknd with Suzanna Son (who plays sweet-voiced house songwriter Chloe), “False Idols” and “Family” are together tender acknowledgments of unity and dysfunction wrapped in the spiritual bliss of liberation. Think of these songs as gospel music with a happy-to-be-unhappy shine.
As for the woman at the center of “The Idol” – actor and singer Lily-Rose Depp’s deeply tormented Jocelyn – her transition from adored plastic princess (“World Class Sinner/I’m a Freak”) to a flesh-and-blood adult in possession of her fantasies and fears (“Fill the Void”) is brusque and sassy. Depp is a surprisingly effective singer with a low voice who plays the role of a wounded pop star with stunning accuracy, both as a singer and an actor.
A large number of viewers may not be in a great rush to see whether or not “The Idol” gets a refresh, but this conversely satisfying soundtrack won’t do anything to dampen the enthusiasm of those of us who can’t wait to hear what’s coming next. future musically.