The Suicide Squad (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Features Songs From the Film, Including the New Original Song “Rain (with Jesse Reyes)” by grandson The Suicide Squad (Score From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Features the Music of Composer John Murphy

Troll Court / WaterTower Music today released TWO albums of music from The Suicide Squad, writer/director James Gunn’s superhero action-adventure film which features a collection of the most degenerate delinquents in the DC lineup and is now in theatres and also available on HBO Max via the Ad-Free plan for 31 days. One album features songs heard in the film, including the new track “Rain (With Jesse Reyes)” by grandson. The other album is the film score by composer John Murphy (Kick-Ass), who took a decisively punk attitude in his approach to creating the music for outrageously visceral, wild ride that is The Suicide Squad.

James Gunn takes an extremely hands-on approach to infusing music into his films. Not only does he plan out what music he will use in post when writing his screenplays, he also utilizes playback of the selected songs on set, which allows the actors to actually step into his world on the other side of the edit, aiding with performances.

The Suicide Squad (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), which Gunn calls his “curated mix tape,” includes tunes from such classic artists as Johnny Cash, The Jim Carroll Band, Kansas, Louis Prima and Pixies, alongside a handful of today’s rising stars like grandson and Jessie Reyez; in addition to their own songs, the latter two even perform the duet “Rain” which was written specifically for the film.

“A movie to me is two things,” Gunn says, “Picture and sound. It’s how you put those two things together that help tell a story and hopefully move an audience. So, music is incredibly important, and not only the songs I choose but also the music that I built with my composer, John Murphy, which is absolutely beautiful for this film. A lot of John’s score was written beforehand and we play it on set, too, and that guides the scenes, the way the cameras are moving, and really informs the actors.”

Murphy said of working on The Suicide Squad (Score From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with Gunn, “From day one with James it was really creative and loads of fun. Nothing was off the table. He loves music. You can feel it in his movies. And we wanted this score to be different; sometimes raw, sometimes epic, sometimes unexpected - but always with attitude. I’ve heard people say that a good score is one that you don’t notice. I think that’s bollocks. We wanted a score that would be noticed!”

Murphy and Gunn were never going to go with a typical superhero movie score, so Murphy, who started in a punk band, picked up his guitar, plugged it into a Vox AC15, and began writing guitar riffs as down and dirty as the Squad themselves. “Because,” explained Murphy, who plays all of the guitars on the soundtrack, “I write differently with a guitar. Emotionally, I’m starting from a different place. I love writing on piano, but with guitar, I can smash out different rhythms, walk around the room, keep turning the amp up. I can have a beer.”

As the film’s story (and music) gradually progresses from dirty guitars and kickass drums to more epic, orchestral pieces, instead of switching to piano to compose, Murphy continued to write with his guitars and pedals. He then built the orchestral action tracks from those raw guitar ideas. This way he could keep the same “punk” feeling he established early in the score while making his entire orchestra rock out with him. Murphy explained, “When we recorded the orchestra, I loved hearing all these blaring brass themes and soaring violins that started out as fuzz guitar riffs. And timpani riffs that, in my head, were really drum fills. The orchestra killed it!”

Much like the Suicide Squad themselves, the score does become gradually bigger and more heroic, but it gets there in its own unique way.

“James trusted me to go with my gut; and I trusted him to mean it,” the composer concluded. “So The Suicide Squad score was a collaboration from beginning to end. And probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a movie!”

The Suicide Squad (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is now available, and the track list is as follows:

The Suicide Squad (Score From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) featuring score from John Murphy is now available, and the track list is as follows:

ABOUT JOHN MURPHY

Liverpool born John Murphy began scoring movies at the age of 25. In 2001, following the success of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, he moved to Los Angeles. Since then he has worked with some of the industry's most respected and luminary filmmakers, including Michael Mann, Danny Boyle, Guy Ritchie, Stephen Frears, and James Gunn, producing film scores as prominent and diverse as Sunshine, Kick-Ass, The Suicide Squad, and the seminal 28 Days Later. His movie trailers include Captain America, X-Men, Cloverfield, War of the Worlds, Ex Machina, and Avatar. His music has been featured in advertising campaigns for Nike, Audi, Microsoft, Google, and Apple.

After Kick-Ass Murphy set up the record label Taped Noise and began work on several non-movie projects. He is currently working on The Peacemaker with James Gunn.

ABOUT THE SUICIDE SQUAD

From the horribly beautiful mind of writer/director James Gunn comes Warner Bros. Pictures’ superhero action adventure “The Suicide Squad,” featuring a collection of the most degenerate delinquents in the DC lineup.

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

The film stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Joaquín Cosio, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, Nathan Fillion, Steve Agee, Sean Gunn, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Jennifer Holland and Tinashe Kajese, with Sylvester Stallone, and Viola Davis. Gunn directed from his own screenplay, based on characters from DC. The film was produced by Charles Roven and Peter Safran, with Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo, Nikolas Korda and Richard Suckle executive producing.

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents An Atlas Entertainment/A Peter Safran Production, A James Gunn Film, The Suicide Squad. The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is in theaters and IMAX nationwide today and available on HBO Max on the Ad-Free plan in UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on supported devices for 31 days from theatrical release.

ABOUT WATERTOWER MUSIC

WaterTower Music, the in-house label for the WarnerMedia companies, releases recorded music as rich and diverse as the companies themselves. It has been the soundtrack home to many of the world’s most iconic films, television shows and games since 2001.

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