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TheSuccessionhive has been eating good lately, thanks in large part to the midseason labor ofNicholas Britell.
In some ways, its kind of nice because it feels like its even more of a live experience.
What kinds of things are you tinkering with as youre finishing up?So many things.
Each season, I spend so much time writing new ideas.
And Jesse Armstrong, the shows creator, talks to me before hes even done with episodes.
I remember watching that episode and being stunned.
Its important to be sensitive to those emotions as Im writing.
How do you decide where the music goes?Its not obvious.
Ill watch a whole episode, and Ill notate myself.
Once I put it all together, Ill show it to Jesse.
Hell send me notes on things.
We have conversations about every single moment.
Did you know about Logans death before you sawthe finished episode?I knew about it.
Before any of that was shot, I was already writing music and imagining what that might feel like.
In that episode musically, theres certainly a sense of the passing of this very, very complicated man.
Then theres the feelings of the children.
How does the instrumentation deal with these dueling vibes?
We spent a whole day looking specifically at thephone call.
I already had very specific ideas of how I wanted to approach it.
That sequence is unlike any other music in the whole series.
Theres actually these very rough-hewn string tremolos that have bowings of raw sounds and theyre bent a little bit.
Theres also a wobble to the sound.
Its kind of wavy.
There is this sense that its a moment in any human beings life when the unexpected happens.
I feel like those moments distort your reality, and I wanted the music to do that too.
The performances of Jeremy Strong and Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin are just stunning to me.
The feeling that theres an irrevocable change reminded me of the score forseason threes end credits.
Theres a piece of music I wrote when imagining Logans passing before I saw the episode.
We put it at the end of the episode because theres more of a sense that everything is done.
Even though everything about the music in that episode is different fromSuccession, I still wanted it to beSuccession.
Lets talk about that dissonant triplet that appears in the main theme, thatching-chingsound.
I often give a shot to reimagine it each season.
Hes the founder of Waystar Royco; hes the father figure.
But at the same time, I try not to have these notes be about any one character.
Then the diegetic music cuts out and we hear this little hip-hop-inspired bit as he walks into the building.
Is that something you made?That beat is mine.
There are times, like in the main theme, that Im using hip-hop drums.
The idea ofhip-hop around Kendallis something I have explored at various points when it felt right for the show.
Weve used hip-hop occasionally with Roman; theres that beat when he forays into the football club.
The beat at the beginning of the latest episode is mine.
Theres no sample in it.
He has a sense of himself.
His listening to hip-hop is a way to reinforce his confidence at times.
We see that in the pilot episode, too.
As forTom and Shiv, the music sounds so mournful this season.
I think its important to keep an openness to things and where they stand.
Theres an ever-unfolding pathos in all these different directions for them.
I think the music this season for them is an evolution in the sound that were used to.
Did you sneak anything into the music this season, any Easter eggs we should pay attention to?
Do we need to get some nice Kendall-level headphones?Theres always a lot.
I think we should talk again at the end of the season.
Theres a lot to come.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
