MP3: Going Clear – Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)

June 11, 2015 | By

 

GoingClearScore: Very Good

Label: Milan Records

Released:  April 7, 2015

Tracks / Album Length:  22 tracks / 55 mins.

Composer: Will Bates

Special Notes:  n/a

 


 

Review:

Will Bates’ score for the recent HBO documentary on Scientology is fairly low-key, seemingly allowing the weird details of L. Ron Hubbard’s quack religion – its founding, its controversies, and its litigious behaviour towards any criticism – to govern the narrative.

The key ingredient within Bates’ score is a smattering of assorted electronic sounds that address specific periods and moods. The opening “We Will Reduce the Pain” is more contemporary, with reverberating tones and slight feedback launching a series of somewhat abstract beats and pulses, of which the latter recur in various forms.

Organic instruments like piano and harpsichord are used fleetingly, but the overall scope is a series of synthetic impressions of a complex figure with interests in sci-fi, naval discipline, and controlling anything unwanted and rebellious. Hubbard remains an enigma, making it logical for Bates’ scoring approach to never quite settle on a singular, refined sound nor thematic statement.

Fans of electronics should be pleased with the sometimes intricate assembly of processed sounds (“Dianetics” is a collage of analogue bleeps and feedback, whereas a Theremin adds another eerie dimension to the score in the haunting “Vocalise – etude en forme de Habenera”).

There’s a lovely duet between Theremin and piano in the brief “The Death of LRH” and the classically themed “Naz” is performed with tones reminiscent of early seventies synths. Going Clear features a decent array of moody, eerie, and rhythmic tracks averaging 2-3 minutes, and while not a bass-heavy score nor one with a broad, potent stereo design, there’s much to admire in Bates’ discretionary use of themes and his lovely instrumentation.

 

 

© 2015 Mark R. Hasan

 


 

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Editor’s BlogComposer on IMDB  —  Composer Filmography —  Soundtrack Album
 

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