What does marriage sound like musically? Do themes for couples evolve and change, like members of an orchestra get added or subtracted depending on their level of happiness? Do couples bring their own sounds together, or do they simply make music with one another once they are paired, committed or married? Much like the two feuding couples at the center of Netflix’s Beef, the music melds together in harmonious, eclectic ways as composer Finneas O’Connell brings melancholy, sadness, and pluck to the electronic score.
After O’Connell discusses what kinds of conversation he had with creator Lee Sung Jin about what he was thinking the second season would cover, the Oscar-winning composer and I speak about some cues found throughout the score. I highly recommend listening to this score without the context of the show, because the quality of the recording really lets you hear every nook and cranny of these tracks. You can almost feel the characters breathing.
“Vicious Thoughts” knocks you out not unlike how you feel beaten down after a fight with someone you love. O’Connell’s score elevates the stakes between the couples, as it reminds you of why we fight in the first place. When we spar with a spouse, we are fighting for the person we love the most to understand us better or more deeply. I love how this cue has this huge spikes in sound, but O’Connell allows the silence to nearly suffocate you. It feels like when you say something out loud to your partner, and you wish you didn’t say it. That kind of silence that feels fuzzy on your ears or like bees buzzing nearby.
When it comes to the tracks designed for the two couples, they couldn’t sound more different. “Austin & Ashley” almost sounds like the strumming is anticipatory–like when you feel your heart fluttering when you’re working up the courage to ask someone out. It’s new, it’s exciting. O’Connell adds something extra that pokes through as it layers–maybe anxiety as you question where you are headed? “Josh & Lindsay” feels slower–not in tempo but in its aura. These two people have been together so long that they know each other’s rhythms. It’s not resentful bur familiar in a weary way.
We must remember that Lindsay and Josh’s sound might not have always sounded like this. It may have been more loving or hopeful. We are just meeting them in a time of strain. Perhaps Lindsay and Josh’s theme used to sound like Austin and Ashley’s? As hard as they try, the younger couple’s music might resemble their older counterparts’ as time moves forward. They can’t control the music, just their actions.
Beef is streaming now on Netflix.
