Ólafur Arnalds On His Broadchurch Score: "The Music Lets You Know Who The Killer Is"

Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds has dropped a big hint to all the armchair detectives currently engrossed in the second series of Broadchurch. Ólafur provides the haunting score that enhances the onscreen action and which has, to many, become an integral part of the success of the series, and which was rightly rewarded with a BAFTA last year. 

However, the music isn't just a pleasant backdrop to the series. Writer Chris Chibnall, who invited Arnalds to score the series says that the music is a narrative of its own. Arnalds says that there is more to it than that.

"There was a theme for each character and there was always a slightly different theme for the person revealed as the killer," he explains."We left some clues in there. If you watch the first series again and pay attention, the music lets you know who the killer is."

Arnalds advises viewers to keep their ears as well as their eyes open as they watch this series. "People who listen closely can get a little sense of what's going to happen in series two. This series, the musical theme is more about Broadchurch as a town rather than individual characters. It's broader, it’s about unifying everything."

He also addressed the handful of complaints made about the volume of the music obscuring dialogue in the first episode.

"The volume level is not really my part of the job," he says. "For the first episode the music was indeed very fast and had a lot of pace. The characters are not happy, there is confusion and madness. The soundtrack is very aggressive, it’s definitely not an accident."

The Broadchurch soundtrack CD is available from 19th January - pre-order it here.

The iTunes version of the album is already available here.

To read more of what Ólafur Arnalds had to say about the Broadchurch and the recording process click here.