The Newton Brothers’ Daredevil: Born Again reprises John Paesano’s Daredevil theme in sensational form, and that together with several enjoyably dark new motifs and an impeccably moody string, organ and vocal-based style firmly cements this as a worthy sequel score to the original.
The moment that the Newton Brothers announced they would be using John Paesano’s legendary theme for Daredevil in their score for new series Born Again, I was sold. The composers’ work on X-Men ’97 was genuinely fantastic – and sadly only missed a review here due to time constraints – and as such, save for having Paesano himself return they’re pretty damned ideal for composing the Man Without Fear. And they don’t take long to prove it either, as the first five tracks of volume one of this brand new Daredevil score are absolutely phenomenal. Let’s do it in chronological order; episode one opens with “Brick And Blood”, and almost instantly there’s a terrible sense of dread and wariness amongst the solemn strings and religious-sounding choral vocals here. The orchestration is outstanding, but the tension is utterly palpable as a worrisome organ also joins the instrumental fray. This wariness then dials up considerably in the subsequent “Bullseye” as horror-like high-pitched strings and eerie percussion introduce a new motif for the terrifying villain, which then echoes and lurks malevolently throughout the ninety second track and its sequel “No Holds Barred” where it plays in equally alarming form before pounding percussion then overtakes for a particularly frenetic action sequence. Two minute “Remorse” however then dials back the pace, now pushing darkness and sorrow to the forefront with mournful strings in centre stage and harrowing vocals singing the Daredevil theme, seguing pretty perfectly into –
The new main title cue, “Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again Main Theme”. Now the Newton Brothers have done something rather interesting for this new piece; it’s a marriage of two themes, one new and one old. The track opens with new, with solemn strings and vocals playing a brand new motif for Matthew Murdock himself. It’s quiet, pensive and inward but with a touch of anger to it, and the aforementioned instrumentation rises in both volume and intensity until John Paesano’s Daredevil theme then crashes emphatically into the fray at the minute mark. It’s bold, loud and fist-pumpingly epic, and choral vocals together with a rising organ and church bells then push the track to an elegant finish. All-in, it’s a damned solid title track – pretty perfectly blending what thematically came before with a brand new and equally intriguing new motif of the Newton Brothers’ own – and a pretty fantastic opening to the album overall too, with these first five cues putting you through the absolute emotional wringer before we’ve even really gotten properly started. So then – let’s start. “Fisk” introduces another new theme, this time of course for the Kingpin, and it’s interesting in that stylistically it closely follows Matt’s with choral, religious-sounding vocals, but tonally it’s very different with a much more ominous and imposing mood overall. “Where There’s Smoke” then continues in this choral vein – it’s a recurring style across the entire album actually – before hammering percussion and strings then dial up the tension to track’s end.
A wistful piano reprises Matt Murdock’s new theme at the start of “No Room For Redemption” before a fog of mystery and ominousness then atmospherically descends with the first few notes of the Daredevil theme playing infrequently. The religious-esque chorals then return for “I Love NY” alongside more optimistic strings, though a more foreboding side to the music does start to present itself a little later in the cue with hints toward Fisk’s sinister new motif. Wary orchestral tension then echoes throughout the atmospheric “The Hollow Crown” with further notational cameos from Paesano’s Daredevil theme – it plays scattered and infrequent throughout this volume honestly, which seems symbolic given the narrative of the first half of the show (I won’t spoil it). The thirty second “Shadows We Fear” then also echoes solemnly with high-pitched chorals in centre stage before “City Cadence” reprises the piano, strings and humming vocals of Matt Murdock’s motif alongside some rather unnerving percussion at first before picking up in grandiosity for the track’s second half. The eerie tranquility of Fisk’s motif then reprises in “How I Feel” with moody piano notes and strings – the theme, much like the character, kind of feels like it’s going to explode into chaos at any moment – before “Singing Frog” then delves into actual tranquility with hopeful woodwinds and optimistic strings.
With this first album starting to approach its end, “Bloody Knuckles” opens quietly and warily with strings until echoes of the Daredevil theme reprise on loudly choral vocals. Dramatic percussive tension then thunderously overtakes in “Passing Information” with Fisk’s malevolent motif playing centre stage for two villainous minutes, before “Closing Statement” delves back into eerie choral atmosphere with echoes of the Daredevil and Matt Murdock themes once again intertwining. Strings-based solemnity then opens “Sentencing” with the religious-esque vocals reprising a few seconds later, slowly rising in intensity until eerie electronics and percussion then overtake from the sixty second mark until cue’s end. The solemn choral side of the track then continues in the subsequent “Trying To Live” with the ethereal religious element dialed up to eleven alongside interspersions of Matt’s motif, until final track “A Broken Castle” closes out the volume with quiet string and vocal-based mournfulness while also introducing another new theme, which given the title of the track shouldn’t be hard to figure out the skull-enthused owner of.
Volume two opens with “Hands In The Air”, and a crashing drama of drums echoes tensely through the ninety second opening cue until fading quietly away towards the end. Paesano’s Daredevil theme then reprises anxiously in “The Devil You Know” with loudly imposing vocals and frantic strings in centre stage, before “Muse” brings the pace back down with a decidedly creepy thematic introduction for the titular villain. Echoing, almost childlike percussion and hissing vocals stylistically form this eerie new motif, with high-pitched horror-like strings emphasizing the disturbing nature of the character in the back half of the track. A quietly morose rendition of Matt’s theme then briefly returns in “Reflection” and the subsequent “Act Like Animals” before “Pick Your Fight” dives into action territory with violently crashing drums, anxious vocals and strings. Shrill chanting vocals are centre stage through action setpiece “Fear No Evil” alongside frenetic organ notes playing in a stylistic vein much akin to that of the tenser moments in Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar. All this then comes to a head in the track’s final minute with echoes of Paesano’s Daredevil theme before a bold, intense crescendo is reached. The loud vocal chanting from earlier then returns in the short “No Pictures” before Fisk’s intensely brooding theme returns in full through “When And Where” in just as malevolently imposing form as ever.
Fisk’s theme reprises quietly and forebodingly through “Love & Power” before the tense organ notes from earlier return in “Femoral Head Midnight”. The chanting vocals also reprise alongside rapidly worrisome strings and together the orchestral ensemble then builds to a particularly emphatic and in-your-face crescendo. Quiet vocal solemnity then occupies “The Lord Near My Shadows”, with the subsequent “Mrs. K” descending into strings-based villainy together with an eerie vocal backdrop. “Suffering And Justice” though is where things really get going, as wary organ notes open the track to echo Paesano’s Daredevil theme which then builds in both intensity and volume alongside the now swirling organ notes, pounding percussion and tense strings until a thunderously epic rendition of the theme just unleashes at the three minute mark. It’s one of the standout moments of the album as the theme finally gets the boldly heroic moment it deserves, and it’s so worth it as a result. With the score overall now starting to reach its end, “Six Judgements, Six Miracles, Six Snares” slows the pace somewhat with a villainous reprise of Fisk’s theme before final cue “Faith x Fury: The Daredevil Suite” offers an extended look at the opening title piece from the first volume, pretty perfectly bringing the soundtrack full dramatic circle.
Overall, both volumes of the Newton Brothers’ score for Daredevil: Born Again have the musical style and tone of the Man Without Fear absolutely nailed, to genuinely amazing results. The composers stay impeccably loyal to the thematic groundwork laid by John Paesano – who scored the original Netflix series – reprising his iconic theme alongside the solemn orchestral backdrop that represents the titular character so well. Particularly emphasized this time around too is Matt’s faith, with choral vocals, organs and church bells all stylistically alluding to it throughout this pretty fantastically-styled album. And alongside Paesano’s Daredevil theme too are brand new motifs of the Newton Brothers’ own, with a more sorrowful and pensive motif for Matt himself that takes more of a central role while Daredevil takes a backseat for much of the first half of the show. And antagonistically, a new theme for Wilson Fisk also emerges like the opposite thematic side of the same stylistic coin, with Fisk’s though of course playing much more malevolently and eerily which works very well indeed in this darkly ethereal soundscape. My only criticism if I had any is that even with both volumes released, there’s still not a huge amount in terms of epic Daredevil action going on – bar the bombastic playthrough at the end of “Suffering & Justice” – but hopefully that may pick up in the second season.
Score: 7.5/10
Standout Cues: Brick & Blood/Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again Main Theme/Suffering & Justice
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