Early Man (soundtrack)

Harry Gregson-Williams, who previously scored Aardman's Chicken Run (2000), Flushed Away (2006) and Arthur Christmas (2011) was assigned to compose for Early Man.^[1] Since Gregson-Williams was already working on The Meg, he had a short duration to score the film which led him to recommend Tom Howe, who was working under his tutelage, to the producers so that he can be a co-composer in the film as he was interested in scoring animated films.^[2] Since the producers were unaware about him, they had to search through online regarding his filmography where his theme tune for the television baking competition series called The Great British Bake Off had impressed the producers and eventually agreed to his involvement.^[3]

Gregson-Williams and Howe split the work, where the former would compose the themes and Howe would develop and modify it. The scoring process began in late-October to early-November. Recording for the score commenced for a week at the Abbey Road Studios where the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices performing the orchestra and choir respectively. The score utilizes instrumentations and orchestra which were considered to be strange, quirky and colorful highlighting the tone of the film.^[3] Howe also recalled that he utilized the sounds of spanking and caveman yelling sounds in order to be true to the story.^[4]

The score was released internationally by Mercury Records on 26 January 2018.^[5] The single "Good Day" was released ahead of the soundtrack on 22 January 2018.^[6] The single "Tiger Feet" was released a month after the soundtrack on 28 February 2018.^[7]

Jonathan Broxton of Movie Music UK wrote "One of the main drawbacks of Early Man is the fact that, if you’re not listening closely, some of this clever thematic writing and intelligent dramatic application may slip past you. Although Dug’s theme is literally all over the score, it never quite grabs you by the ears and makes itself really memorable, which may result in some listeners finding the score a little generic, especially when compared to the outstanding thematic content in previous Aardman scores."^[8]

Andrew Collins of Radio Times described it an "energetic work by composers Harry Gregson-Williams and Tom Howe".^[9] James R Whitson of Animated Views wrote "The score by Harry Gregson-Williams and Tom Howe is very hit-or-miss: sometimes a great compliment to the on-screen action and other times not much better than just keeping quiet."^[10]