{"id":1872748,"date":"2026-04-08T20:52:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1872748"},"modified":"2026-04-08T20:52:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:52:49","slug":"the-drama-music-supervisor-talks-alicia-keys-needle-drop-working-with-zendaya-the-soundtracks-old-fashioned-whimsy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1872748","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Drama\u2019 Music Supervisor Talks Alicia Keys Needle Drop, Working With Zendaya & The Soundtrack\u2019s \u2018Old-Fashioned Whimsy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tWho doesn\u2019t live for The Drama<\/em>? Acclaimed distributor A24 has yet another theatrical hit on its hands with Kristoffer Borgli\u2019s latest conversation-sparking film, The Drama<\/em>, which grossed $28 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Led by Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, the psychological romantic black comedy follows a couple gearing up for a wedding weekend that dramatically unravels after the revelation of controversial, lifelong secrets.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tHow \u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 Episode 4\u2019s\u00a0Viral\u00a0\u2018All the Things She Said\u2019 Needle Drop Came Together: \u2018Instead of Tripping Out at the Club,\u00a0You\u2019re Lusting\u00a0Out\u2019\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Lady in the Lake\u2019 Composer Marcus Norris Unpacks Hit Apple TV Series & Working on Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s 2023 Dubai\u00a0Performance\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tHow \u2018Bob Marley: One Love\u2019 Brought the 1976 Smile Jamaica Concert and \u2018Exodus\u2019 Recording Sessions to the Big\u00a0Screen\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tAnchored by a shocking reveal, Borgli\u2019s incisive yet hilarious screenplay and top-tier performances from both leads, The Drama<\/em> has quickly dominated social media with infinite interlocked discourses. Each of the film\u2019s individual elements reinforces its testy themes of redemption, morality and forgiveness \u2014 particularly its immersive, folk-driven soundtrack, curated by music supervisor Jemma Burns. Built around recently unearthed \u201870s cuts like Shira Small\u2019s \u201cI Want to Lay With You\u201d and wistful \u201850s numbers like Nolan Strong & The Diablo\u2019s \u201cThe Wind,\u201d Burns\u2019 most rewarding Drama <\/em>synchs lean into the juxtaposition between the selected compositions and the actions unfolding on screen. And it all began with one playlist.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019d read the script and seen his other work, so I was excited to meet him, but I had no idea about who was in [The Drama<\/em>] or anything,\u201d says Burns, who got connected with Borgli through Square Peg producer Tyler Campellone. \u201cBut we just straight away got each other; there\u2019s a type of humor and lens we see the world through that really aligned. I got to work looking for a song for their wedding dance lesson [\u2018Lay With You\u2019], which came from my very first playlist of ideas. The song at the top of that playlist, \u2018Inside Out,\u2019 was the second song they danced to. I think I\u2019d gotten the job from that very first playlist I sent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs a romcom that trades on the genre\u2019s typical tropes while incorporating chilling pieces of uniquely American culture, The Drama<\/em> relies on its music not just to emphasize its most uncomfortable moments but also to provide levity and release in a narrative infused with tension. From the delightfully startling Alicia Keys needle drop to the fortifying Moondog song that plays over the end credits, music is effectively the fifth character in The Drama<\/em>\u2019s primary ensemble.<\/p>\n
\n\tBelow, Burns speaks with Billboard<\/em> about clearing Keys\u2019 \u201cTry Sleeping With a Broken Heart,\u201d working with Zendaya and building a dynamic partnership with Borgli.<\/p>\n\n
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What did you think when you finished reading the script?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tAfter I\u2019ve read the script, I like to hear the director\u2019s approach. If you haven\u2019t worked with someone before, you want to make sure that you\u2019ve understood their sensibility and where they\u2019re coming from. I just really got what Kris was after, and we really clicked from that first playlist.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your process like generally? How did you know when you found the right fit for a song and a scene?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tI like to get as many reference tracks as possible from the writer and\/or director, [which] are clues to this person\u2019s sensibility and their take on this particular story. Some of those songs might not necessarily even end up in the film. There\u2019s a bit of guesswork involved.<\/p>\n
\n\tObviously, things change throughout the process because once everything comes together and you\u2019re in the edit suite, you might find there\u2019s a bit of a lull at one point in the story. There are many different reasons why things can shift, and we did switch around a few songs throughout the process. But many of the songs from my original playlist ended up in the film, so that was very satisfying.<\/p>\n
The Drama <\/em>has several \u201870s-era and folk music synchs. What about the film\u2019s narrative and the actors\u2019 performances drew you to that era and genre?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tI think Kris was really going for an aesthetic that was influenced by sweet \u201860s European films and some early \u201870s American romcoms. I really wanted it to feel somewhat timeless and from another era \u2014 maybe a more golden, bygone era\u00a0\u2014 so that when the gears shift, it\u2019s a lot more jarring. We\u2019re also still in a very modern world, and they\u2019re very switched-on, worldly characters. That all comes crashing into the modern world when the big secret is revealed, so we\u2019re trying to set up this contrast.<\/p>\n
\n\tAll the way through [The Drama<\/em>], there\u2019s a sort of old-fashioned whimsy. Even the final song [Moondog\u2019s \u201cDo Your Thing\u201d] feels like it should be an American classic. It\u2019s not that widely known, but it has this warm, whimsical feel; it fluctuates between the light and the dark, and the cuteness [of the romance] and the brutality of what they\u2019re actually talking about.<\/p>\n
How did you land on Alicia Keys\u2019 \u201cTry Sleeping With a Broken Heart?\u201d Was it easy to clear this song for a film of this nature?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tIt needed to be something that those women would realistically put on. We\u2019re not trying to suggest that they\u2019re into really nerdy internet radio stations or anything like that. But at the same time, I think Kris was quite keen to give the film a somewhat unique feel by not using super obvious tracks. Even though Alicia Keys is such a beloved artist, [\u201cTry Sleeping With a Broken Heart\u201d] is a relatively deep cut [for general audiences]. It\u2019s not exactly a household name song, but it should be a classic. Kris was very adamant that we didn\u2019t use music that felt like it was part of the culture at large at this moment in time to build a singular aesthetic.<\/p>\n
\n\tWe always give a synopsis of the film. With a film like this, where they were intentionally trying to keep the plot under wraps as much as possible, it was a fairly minimal summary. We also always describe what\u2019s going on in the specific scene that we used to track over. If the artists or songwriters are curious to know more, they can certainly ask. Sometimes, when it\u2019s a particularly difficult song to clear, we might send them the actual scene. In the instance of Mariah Carey\u2019s \u201cAlways Be My Baby\u201d for Beau Is Afraid<\/em>. I actually got Ari [Aster] to write a letter to Mariah, because sometimes it\u2019s best to cut out the middlemen and get them to speak artist to artist. But we didn\u2019t have too much trouble on this one. Alicia Keys\u2019 people seemed very up for it. It\u2019s always hard to guess what an artist\u2019s film tastes are as well, isn\u2019t it? You can\u2019t assume they like satirical or controversial films, so you do have to tread gently.<\/p>\n
What was the most pivotal note Borgli gave you? Did you pull any inspiration from Zendaya and Robert Pattinson or their performances?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tWhimsy came with the very first song we were looking at, which was Shira Small\u2019s \u201cI Want to Lay With You.\u201d Kris really wanted something with a sweet earnestness about it, but slightly old-fashioned. So, when Zendaya\u2019s character says, \u201cMaybe we should just dance how we normally dance,\u201d the next song is their in-joke as a couple. Jesse Rae, [who sings] \u201cInside Out,\u201d is such a character. He\u2019s a Scottish man who was really good friends with the Troutman Brothers and Parliament-Funkadelic. They all adore him and went back to Scotland with him to record these amazing tracks that are sung in a thick Scottish accent, but with all that African-American funk. It\u2019s a beautiful, very singular combination of sounds that\u2019s just so joyful. And even some of my most nerdy music nerd friends had never heard of this guy! We\u2019re actually going to do a little seven-inch [vinyl] release of that one.<\/p>\n
\n\tI didn\u2019t hear much direct feedback from [the stars], but working on scenes with Zendaya was interesting because she\u2019s such a cultural phenomenon. She\u2019s been in so many scenes, whether it\u2019s Euphoria<\/em> or Challengers<\/em>, that have iconic music moments. I had to dig even deeper to figure out what songs would work with her because different combinations of songs over her image convey different things. Oftentimes, we were like, \u201cNo, this is giving Euphoria<\/em>\u201d or another project she\u2019s heavily associated with. That extra layer of nuance was definitely there.<\/p>\n
There are also flashes of the \u201950s with songs like \u201cThe Wind\u201d and \u201cSans vous aimer.\u201d What about those songs and that era spoke to the story The Drama <\/em>is trying to tell?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tOftentimes, you just don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to work until you actually try them together. They both fit in with this bygone golden feel we\u2019ve set up, but they also work well because they\u2019re surprising combinations. You have a gorgeous, old song like \u201cThe Wind\u201d playing over an [angsty] teenage girl running around the house with her dad\u2019s gun \u2014 not a combination you would instantly think of. It\u2019s an intentional contrast of the slightly more innocent bygone era against the complexities of life for a teenager in this century, and what\u2019s going on with schoolchildren as well.<\/p>\n
Where are you listening to music these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tEverywhere. \u201cI Want to Lay With You\u201d came to me because of Numero, a quite beloved reissue label that digs up old private pressings and gives them a new life. This Shara Small song was particularly lovely because she essentially recorded the album as a school project, and I don\u2019t think she ever thought anything of it since the early \u201970s. It was reissued [in 2022] and got some attention, but certainly not known by the wider public. Now she\u2019s having a little revival thanks to her inclusion in the film.<\/p>\n
\n\tI think that the characters would probably also listen to NTS [Radio]! It\u2019s funny that something like NTS, which showcases either underground artists or oddball forgotten hits from previous eras, has become such a phenomenon that it\u2019s [now synonymous] with quirky music. Even the weird underground alternative stuff has a mass audience platform these days. And we specifically did want to steer clear of artists that maybe have had an NTS special. It\u2019s almost unavoidable at this point. Not that every amazing old song has already been discovered, but a lot of them are pretty readily accessible these days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2269580765-e1775672739246.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Who doesn\u2019t live for The Drama? Acclaimed distributor A24 has yet another theatrical hit on its hands with Kristoffer Borgli\u2019s latest conversation-sparking film, The Drama, which grossed $28 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Led by Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, the psychological romantic black comedy follows a couple gearing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1872748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1872748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1872748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1872748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1872748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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