Greenwood has had a particularly busy year in regard to his work as a composer, as he has very recently released the score that he composed for Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, a Princess Diana biopic starring Kristen Stewart as the late Diana Spencer. This year, Greenwood also scored Jane Campion’s western drama film The Power of The Dog. The score was released on the 17^th of November, five days after the score to Spencer came out. The score to both films can be found on all available streaming services.

Licorice Pizza was released today (November 26^th) in US theatres, and will see an international release on December 25^th. The plot of the film is described as; “The story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973” according to IMDB.

The majority of the soundtrack is comprised of 1970s pop music such as Nina Simone, Sonny and Cher and David Bowie, however Greenwood’s title track does not go unnoticed among the slew of pop hits with its gentle, sombre harp motif and hesitant, swelling string section that builds into a grand and romantic conclusion.

Jonny Greenwood is perhaps best known as the guitarist of the well-revered British alternative/experimental rock group Radiohead, who were formed in 1985 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Greenwood’s first venture into solo and soundtrack work was in 2003 with the album Bodysong, which was a soundtrack to the documentary film of the same name. The following year, Greenwood composed an orchestral work entitled Smear, which was performed by the London Sinfonietta in March of that year. Greenwood’s first feature film score was Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood (2007) which starred Daniel-Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a California oil prospector. The film is critically acclaimed, and Greenwood’s score was nominated for a Grammy in 2008, in the category of “Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media”.

The soundtrack to Licorice Pizza is available on all streaming services, and physical media can be pre-ordered here.

Spencer will be the ninth film soundtrack that Greenwood has composed, with other notable credits including Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and Inherent Vice, as well as Lynne Ramsey’s You Were Never Really Here, which starred Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. According to NME, the soundtrack to Spencer has been described as “a poignant accompaniment to the film, of genre bending music that combines free jazz and classical baroque.”

Greenwood shared details regarding the score and the writing process in a recent exclusive interview with NME, saying; “I explained to Pablo (Larrain) that there’s lots of baggage attached to classical music in films about the royals. You either use actual Handel or pastiche Handel. I watched a few royal films, which were full of sweeping shots of Buckingham Palace, with fanfare horns and tinkling harpsichords on top. I wanted instead to emphasise how chaotic and colourful Princess Diana was, in amongst all that baroque tradition. It’s what the film does too.”

Given Greenwood’s description of the overall sound, “Crucifix” appears to be one of the gentler pieces in the score, featuring gradually swelling strings, subdued timpani hits and sweeping harpsichord arpeggiations. Stylistically, Greenwood’s approach to film scoring has varied over the years; There Will Be Blood’s score is defined largely by piano and string pieces, whereas the sound of You Were Never Really Here is one that fuses electronic drums and lush synthesisers with guitars and orchestral instruments.

In other recent news, Jonny Greenwood has explained to NME more details of The Smile, a recently formed side-project that also features fellow Radiohead bandmate Thom Yorke and Tom Skinner of Sons of Kemet. The group made their debut in a surprise performance at Live At Worthy Farm on May 22^nd of this year and announced in July that they had recorded a full-length album.

Greenwood said of the band’s forthcoming debut: “We’re sitting in front of a pile of music, working out what will make the record. We’re thinking of how much to include, whether it’s really finished or if there are a few guitars that need fixing. I’d hope it’ll come out soon, but I’m the wrong person to ask.”