The Smashing Machine (soundtrack)

Background

Nala Sinephro composed, arranged, produced, recorded, and mixed the score, using synthesizers, harp, modular synths, and harmonium as its foundation. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Regular collaborators included James Mollison, Nubya Garcia, Morgan Simpson, Sheila Maurice-Gray, Lyle Barton, Mark Mollison, Dwayne Kilvington, and the Orchestrate band strings. Safdie chose Sinephro after hearing her album Endlessness.

Reception

Nina Corcoran of Pitchfork described the score as a disarmingly rich, romantic sweep of starlit strings and yearning synths with jazz-drum solos. Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan noted that the compositions balance meditative material, traditional jazz, and film-score moments. Richard Lawson of Rolling Stone called it a woozy jumble of alt-jazz that can feel soporific. Amy Nicholson of Los Angeles Times termed it a rattle-snap jazz score.

Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire wrote that the ambiently riff-some jazz score works antithetically to the toughness of the images. Tara Brady of The Irish Times said the minimalist score hums with quiet menace. John Nugent of Empire called it an elegant, dreamy score. Damon Wise of Deadline Hollywood noted the ambient free-jazz score leads eclectic needle-drops.

Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal described the score as jagged and discordant, akin to noise. Bilge Ebiri of Vulture wrote that the lovely score enhances a feeling of a world creeping toward an emotional cliff. B. Allan Johnson of SLUG stated the score is devoid of energy, featuring quiet, reflective saxophone and meditative, peaceful moments.