The Prodigy’s Frontman to Score Horror Movie

It’s been revealed that Liam Howlett of The Prodigy has recently scored the soundtrack for Netflix’s soon-to-be-released horror flick, Choose or Die, which will be available to stream from 15th April.

This score marks the first time that Howlett has, in his own right, scored for a full feature-length film, although music by his band has been used in blockbuster movies, including The Matrix and Kick-Ass. Howlett also collaborated with the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZ on a track that was used in The Fast and the Furious 9, making this move into solo film scoring a natural next step.

Choose or Die is a dark skit on the gaming obsession that emerged in the 1980s, starring Asa Butterfield from Sex Education and The 100’s Lola Evans. The plot revolves around a short-of-cash college misfit (Evans) who elects to play a rebooted 1980’s survival video game in an ambitious attempt to get her hands on the $125,000 prize money promised to the winner. It doesn’t take long, however, before she realizes that her life is on the line, rather than the prize pot, as she faces a series of terrifying challenges. There’s no option to stop the game, and the choose-or-die situations keep coming in this roller-coaster terror fest.

The film stars an icon of the horror world: Robert Englund, who is best known for his role as Freddie Krueger in the classic Nightmare on Elm Street films. Eddie Marsan, most recently seen appearing in Sherlock Holmes, also appears in the movie that marks the directorial debut of Toby Meakins.

The score that Howlett has produced for the movie is atmospherically and eerily electronic, with echoes of the punk sound that his band is well known for – fans will instantly recognize The Prodigy’s unique sound in the compositions. For video and content creators looking for a similar electronic soundtrack for their latest project, have a look here for royalty-free options that negate the issue of needing to sort out music licensing issues to get permission to use tracks so that you can easily find the perfect sonic background for your film.

Howlett formed The Prodigy in 1990 with the late dancer and vocalist Keith Flint, and the band enjoyed huge success over that decade, influencing a raft of other artists; the group is credited with bringing the big beat genre, formerly firmly on the underground scene, into the mainstream. At the time the band was formed, Howlett was already a proficient songwriter and pianist and a master of programming, sampling, and sequencing – he is widely regarded as being the creative dynamo of the group, innovating new sounds and masterminding the overall direction of the band.

The Prodigy has scored, to date, an incredible seven consecutive number one albums, picked up a multitude of awards, and sold millions of records worldwide, as well as delivering blistering live performances across the globe. They’re known for their fiery, passionate performances and high-octane delivery of every single track that features in a set.

Tragedy struck the band in March 2019 with the death of Keith Flint, The Prodigy’s iconic frontman, at the age of just forty-nine. Known for his incendiary performances and instantly recognizable fluorescent spiked hair, Flint was the lead singer of the band’s smash hit singles Breathe and Firestarter and was considered to be the ‘face’ of the group.

Flint met Howlett at an open-air rave in 1999 when impressed with the latter’s turntable skills; he asked Howlett for a mixtape. Howlett was happy to do so, writing the word ‘Prodigy’ on the cover of the tape, a reference to his favorite synthesizer. Flint was so enthralled with what he heard that he persuaded Howlett to pursue a career in music and offered his services as back-up dancer. Once Leeroy Thornhill was on board, the band was born and racked up big hits with successful singles that included Everybody in the Place, Charley, Fire and Out of Space.

To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the seminal Fat of the Land album, Liam and his bandmate Maxim will be playing a series of concerts in the summer – the set will feature both classic tracks and new songs and mixes that audiences won’t have heard before. The tour will be the first set of live gigs that the band has performed since the death of Keith Flint and will likely be bittersweet for both the group members and the audiences alike.

The first of the gigs will take place on 8th July at Sheffield and will finish at London’s O2 arena later the same month. The shows will feature tracks from the band’s most recent album, No Tourists, which was released in 2018; a documentary of The Prodigy is also in the pipeline, although no release date has been set as yet.

In 2010, Howlett was asked to be a co-producer on the track Immunize from Pendulum’s third album, and two years later, he co-produced the song We Hate Everyone from K Flay’s EP, Eyes Shut. Following the natural progression into full film scoring, the music world awaits with interest Howlett’s next project.