Saltburn: the soundtrack explained song by song

Millennials are entitled to their nostalgia too. He says it Saltburn, the thriller by Emerald Fennell released over the holidays on Prime Video and has already become a cult. Or rather: its soundtrack says so. Most of the songs heard in the film, in fact, come from the same period in which the story of Oliver Quick and Felix Catton is set: the 2006it zenith of the indie-rock movement started a few years earlier in the United States and during which guitars entered the charts of best-selling records for the last time; then nothing more. The effect and the slightly cursed and slightly noir, even gothic aesthetic are guaranteed accordingly, but it is clear that here we are playing above all with memory: for many that that world smacks of the last happy memory, and the the fact that those sounds disappeared from circulation after then, being linked to a period not too distant in time, gives a strange sensation of simultaneous distance and closeness.

Then, in general, that world was close to becoming nostalgia was understood last year with the release – with relative great success – of Meet me in the bathroom, the documentary that tells the story of 2001 and the latest rebirth, starting from New York, of rock which passed above all through groups like the Strokes. They aren't here, but icons like Arcade Fire, MGMT and The Killers arrive. And then Sophie Ellis-Bextor, whose Murder on the dancefloor (dated 2001) returned to the charts in the wake of the final scene, in which it plays a leading role. Obviously it's not just this, it actually goes further in time and genres, but that sound remains the fundamental reference of the entire film.

Chiabella James

And, indeed, it smacks of Operation Nostalgia. Trainspotting (1996), to cite another work with a non-original soundtrack that has remained in history, somehow caught the audience in offbeat by fishing for minor songs (then, from there, to become very famous) by famous artists linked to the imagery of the film . The Batman (2002) ‒ this too is a school case ‒ instead built its highlight on Something in the wayamong the lesser-known songs from Nirvana's best-seller, Nevermind. But in Saltburn everything is different: the tracklist is made up almost of great hits that marked an era. A few notes are enough for those who were there to go back in time.

Have A Cheeky ChristmasThe Cheeky Girls (2003)

The initial impact is rockier than you might think: the Christmas song by The Cheeky Girls, the girl-pop duo from Romania who became popular in the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2003 (they never made it big in Italy). In the arrangement with the bells, in the lyrics and in the singing it is simple and banal even compared to the other Christmas pieces: but it serves to give a context; whoever was there will remember it.

No Cars GoArcade Fire (2007)

The first classic of the lot is one of the ballads of the Canadian band, a sort of bignames of the indie-rock of the noughties, with dark sounds, “vortex” guitars in post-punk style, beating drums and an almost baroque taste for art rock. Someone would have found it years later, in Italy, as the theme song for Those who football: chronicles of a time when such a choice was still permissible.

Sound Of The Underground, Girls Aloud (2002)

Another round, another success (pop): Sound of the underground launched – especially in the United Kingdom, but not only – Girls Aloud, which had then left the TV program Popstars. During the 2002 holidays it was a hit, while in the film it reminds us of how, precisely, the ratings we carry with us and which mark an era are also frivolous, unaware ratings.

Destroy Everything You TouchLadytron (2005)

Another constant in the film and in general in the period it narrates is the electronic music that flows into pop and becomes a great success, Chemical Brothers style. This sort of electropop is a classic of the time, as well as the song by the English band Ladytron that reached the top of the charts.

Hang Me Up To DryCold War Kids (2006)

Second textbook episode of the alternative-rock of the Noughties, this time by Cold War Kids: they didn't have an exciting continuity during their career, but with their debut album, of which this song is among the most famous extracts , they also achieved great notoriety in Italy; thanks to a mix of good intuitions, and also a little because fashion supported them.

This Modern LwhereBloc Party (2005)**

This one is hard not to know: among the top songs of the debut masterpiece of the English rock band Bloc Party, Silent alarm, contains many of the typical elements of The Strokes' rock, from the raw and slightly wild arrangements to the creeping and iconic riff, up to the creeping vocals; in addition, obviously, to the awareness of wanting to burn quickly and go out quickly, yes, but with style. If you think about the entrepreneurial spirit of today's artists, it's unimaginable.

SatisfactionBenny Benassi & The Biz (2003)

It's the first shot of Saltburn: the great worldwide success of the very Italian Benny Benassi, with his late Eurodance style, can be considered a “zarrata” even at the antipodes of the rock heard so far; yet – and if you see the film you will understand – there is no more suitable choice, because if you have to talk about certain moments, certain sensations, and pass through 2006, it is easy to associate them with pieces of the genre.

Time To PretendMGMT (2008)

The American duo's rubbery electronics, mixed with straight kick drums and a bit of psychedelia, at its best; and to think, here too, that this is an absolute debut. A passage to David Letterman Show will do the rest, carving this riff, these words and this sense of freedom into the collective memory forever.

LowFlo Rida (2007)

As in Satisfaction: Flo Rida's debut piece (have you noticed how many debuts?) has nothing to do with rock, if possible it's even more arrogant than Benassi's, yet it's perfect; because if there was a party at the time, as there is here, then it was likely that at the party in question they would play this very piece here.

RentPet Shop Boys (1987)

The first of the few journeys in time of this soundtrack could only be this, towards a song from twenty years earlier which, however, with its pop with synthesizers, gave so much to the generation of SaltburnMGMT above all.

You're GorgeousBabybird (1996)

Same goes for Rentbut for rock: You're gorgeous it is one of those cases in which an indie-rock ballad achieves great success, specifically thanks to a series of small adjustments and refinements that have made it digestible; in the film she feels a little “distant”, as if to underline how much she comes from another era, yet she too has a very close bond with the rock bands of ten years later.

Mr. BrightsideThe Killers (2004)

It needs no introduction: if this era, on an imaginary level, has remained imprinted it is thanks to groups like The Killers, and if we remember groups like The Killers – and the sort of new wave updated with the synthesizers of the Noughties ‒ it is thanks above all to the refrain of their (again) first ever piece, Mr. Brightside.

Perfect (Exceeder)Mason & Princess Superstar (2006)

And then yes, there was also Dutch electronics and the suggestion of Amsterdam clubs. AND Perfect (Exceeder) he embodied the dream of attending a party in the Netherlands best of all; a dream that, it must be said, many cultivated at the time.

LonelinessTomcraft (2002)

Another electronic hit, this time of a more difficult and niche genre such as trance mixed with techno, and which however thanks to Loneliness for a few months he discovered he could fly, reaching the top of the best-selling singles in the United Kingdom.

Murder On The DancefloorSophie Ellis-Bextor (2001)

Also the symbolic piece of Saltburn, a capable elegant funk that accompanies the final scene, was a debut, since it represented the second single ever for Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and was included among other things in her first album. It's yet another hit, and listening to it again at a moment like the final one provides a perfect and alienating effect that makes you think of the closing of a circle. If there's something that really works in the film, it's the soundtrack.