Annihilation boasts one of the most audacious climaxes in recent cinema history, and its music is just as haunting. The film finds director Alex Garland – whose directorial debut was 2015’s Ex Machina – again tapping the duo of Geoff Barrow and composer Ben Salisbury for the soundtrack, one that matches the unsettling, psychedelically altered terrain of the mysterious swath of swampland called “the Shimmer.”
Barrow is best known for his brooding work in the critically acclaimed trio Portishead and Salisbury has a scoring résumé that ranges from numerous David Attenborough natural history TV series to Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream. Both hail from Bristol and began working together on the Garland-produced 2012 feature Dredd. Their score ultimately wasn’t used, but they’ve since worked on Ex Machina, Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire and episodes of Black Mirror. With Annihilation, the duo crafted a mind-altering soundworld with acoustic guitar, orchestra, a touch of electronics and a four-note motif.
| Side A |
| A01 | What Do You Know? |
| A02 | Ambulance Chase |
| A03 | Approaching The Shimmer |
| A04 | Disoriented |
| A05 | The Alligator |
| A06 | For Those That Follow |
| Side B |
| B07 | The Swimming Pool |
| B08 | The Watchtower |
| B09 | Sheppard |
| B10 | The Bod |
| B11 | Plant People |
| B12 | Cells Divide |
| Side C |
| C13 | The Bear |
| C14 | The Beach |
| C15 | Were You Me? |
| C16 | Lighthouse Chamber |
| Side D |
| D17 | The Alien |
| D18 | Annihilation |
