CD REVIEW - INVASION


Invasion
Music by Jon Ehrlic & Jason Derlatka
MovieScore Media MMMS08015
35 Tracks 60:52 mins

A year or so ago, I was thoroughly enjoying my weekend's TV viewing, with sci-fi series Invasion and Surface royally entertaining me. Then, suddenly, both series finished mid-plotline, leaving I and many more fans of both shows heartily disappointed. Invasion in fact had developed a large following, but despite the outcry, the show seems to have permanently bitten the dust.
The music for Invasion was written by composing team Jon Ehrlic and Jason Derlatka, who were previously Emmy-nominated for their work on The Agency, and were given the rare luxury of an orchestra. To help placate fans of the show just a little, MovieScore Media has now released selections from the scores.
The opening track, "The Lights" generates quite a bit of excitement, as the alien invasion gets underway. giving way to the much more intimate "Russ & Larkin," with its romantic delicacy. The mysterious beauty of "Mariel Swims," gives way to the poignant piano-lead "They've Lost Their Mother;" "Sirk's Abduction" commencing eerily before building to menacing action. After the weighty "Szura," we return to intimate territory with the initially delicate "The Rose" blossoming nicely. An almost spiritual violin solo introduces "Angel Mariel/Island of Hybrid Castaways," the music taking on a much more sinister and menacing character as it proceeds.
The brooding "The Locket" follows, again featuring solo violin. The mysterious "M.R.I." leads to two brief, but powerful cues: "Hybrids in Labor" and "Hurricane Approaching;" then the mournful "Couldn't Save Them."
The determined "Pria's Story" is followed by more initially mournful violin work in "Finding Mariel," but the cue develops warmly, before ending somewhat unsettlingly. "Emily's Theme" is light and airy, again featuring violin; the composers providing a nicely fateful conclusion to "There's a Boat Coming."
Other tracks of note, include action cues "Larkin Crashes" and "The Battle;" "Species Transformation," with more airy violin and piano leading to an unsettling climax; the sense of relief in "Help Arrives;" the drama of "Baby Steps;" the mournful "Leon;" the anguished "Last Moments;" the menacing "Stalker" with its twisted Lost-like brass; "Larkin's Shower," with its lament for female voice; the serenely beautiful "Evolution" which develops the airy violin/piano music from before; the tender romance of "When They First Met;" the truly menacing "Mob Rule/Moving Toward the Light;" and the concluding "Full Circle," which starts airily again, but becomes more and more weighty, driven by a repeating piano figure.
For a show of almost epic scope, it never loses sight of its core group of characters, and Ehrlich and Derlatka's score certainly reflects this in that is more often than not intimate and emotive, featuring plenty of delicate solos, particularly for violin, whilst still providing the necessary eerie moments, action and weightiness required.
Invasion is available exclusively as a limited edition CD of just 1000 units, so hurry along to Screen Archives or Intrada to order your copy.
Further details can be obtained by visiting moviescoremedia.com/Invasion.html.