Transparent Ocean Blue version - "In “Distance Between Dreams,” the most historic year in big-wave surfing comes to life through the eyes of iconic surfer Ian Walsh, as he sets mind and body in motion to redefine the upper limits of what’s considered rideable. With massive El Niño-powered swells building across the Pacific, Ian, Shaun, DK and Luke Walsh band together in a way that only brothers can to progress surfing to unimaginable heights. The score was written by Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL, one of my favorite composers around and surely one of the best capable to channeling the energy of such a story through powerful music. As always in the case of one of his scores in the last few years, the name on the cover has changed and this time he’s using both his name and his alias.
The reason I get most excited about a new Junkie score is because this guy is in love with synths. I follow his social media activity and every day there’s a new photo of a studio or an awesome synth setup. He loves electronic music and serves it and its fans as few others do. Before listening to this score I was wondering how can electronic music fit a story that takes place in the water, in the sun. The answer comes right from the first cue “Stranded” where the electronic sounds are combined in such a way that if I close my eyes I can see the surface of the sea and the waves bursting from time to time: the music combines a constant sound in the background with motifs that come and go. Tom also cleverly made his electronic music everything but restrictive; the sounds he chooses make me think of light and an open space. It’s fascinating to me to feel this way because almost all my life I’ve associated electronic music with darkness, or the outer space and now Tom manages to bring it to earth or, better said, to the ocean. The score is melodic and hypnotic and somehow makes me feel the solitude of surfing. I don’t even feel the change of the cues, for me this score is a continuous hypnotic trip through a territory that shines and gleams and gives me the feeling of endless freedom.
As the music progresses it takes me away from the surfing story and into my own dreams and fantasies. I am listening to “The workx” and I dream my own dreams and I free my own imagination. The music and the idea of the freedom in surfing unshackles my dreams and I feel inspired to pursue them. This is the power of music and this is one of those times when a film score is much more than an album. Electronic music has always been my special reflective place and as aggressive and relentless as Tom Holkenborg can be in scores like “Mad max Fury Road” as dreamy his music can get in “Distance between dreams”. He puts spaces in his music that can be filled with the listener’s own dreams and the score is not dense but inviting and comfortable like the illusion of the ocean. Of course that environment is not all inviting and friendly as a cue like “Deep cut” shows us. This is the darkest musical moment from the score.
As far as electronic albums go you can rarely do better than this one. “Distance between dreams” was written by a guy who adores electronic music and knows it intimately. Tom Holkenborg wrote a score filled with cues that can become surfing anthems for the people who do this because they feel it and breathe it, not just because of the adrenaline."
| A1 | Stranded |
| A2 | The Shore |
| B1 | The Workx |
| B2 | Always Ready |
| B3 | Dark Beaches |
| C1 | Dark Blue Hours |
| C2 | Deep Cut |
| C3 | Distant Lights |
| D1 | Increasing Vibes |
| D2 | Jaws |
| D3 | Wavey Waters |
