Dark Matter

Alyla Browne - The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart - photo by Glendyn Ivin 2022

I have no idea as to why I gravitate towards music and visuals from the darker end, but this has been the case as far back as I can recall. Very early on, I was listening to greatest-hits vinyl cast-offs from my father and experiencing real intrigue with rock songs like “Future of Our Nation”, “Black Night” and “He’s Gonna Step on You Again” - all minor key, dealing with grave topics, shadowy and foreboding. As my directions in music have opened up, this preference is simply part of what I do. My brother Glendyn is quite similar with his directorial and photographic work. Is this in the DNA? He and I were sitting in a car on a break from shooting for The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, discussing the music, the atmosphere and the intentions for the finished production when we realised my recent collaborative album with Inga Liljeström, “Of Stars and Stones” had the required mood for some the story’s musical cues. Shared intent, DNA or otherwise, ended up seeing two of the albums tracks worked into the final score, the outcome being a perfect example of that familiar and essential synergy between music and film. In Episode seven you’ll hear these cues - on.soundcloud.com/2A9ue and on.soundcloud.com/kJ6DM set to trailblazing Australian drama, starring Sigourney Weaver, an actor whose earliest films, as viewed by an 11 year old me, did little to unravel a taste for darker things.  The original pieces from which the cues were created can be found here - open.spotify.com/track/2ggLrI1aHUevtsDH4T75X5 & open.spotify.com/track/5TzW6rNk2qN8yZU4qGh1R2  - It’s possible the piece “Stars” may have some influence from John Kongos’ anti-apartheid hit from 1971, as mentioned above. It’s a fascinating thing. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is enjoying a major global trot on Amazon’s streaming giant so it’s wonderful to be an element in that. The series’ nuanced and artful take on an endemic social problem, albeit dark, is resonating with millions.