Zanobard Reviews

Brandon Roberts takes the compositional reins for much of the darker, more action-centric score for season two of Andor, picking up where Nicholas Britell left off – though the aforementioned composer does return in limited capacity – with the tensely heroic theme for the titular Cassian leading the charge throughout as the Rebellion finally takes form.

The score for Andor season two is split into four volumes, which sequentially released alongside each weekly batch of episodes. Album-wise, volume one covers the music for episodes one through three, volume two episodes four through six, volume three episodes seven through nine and volume four episodes ten through twelve. The first volume opens with “Andor (Main Title Theme)”, and that familiar rebellious motif for Cassian reprises within seconds as noble brass and pounding drums set a particularly determined pace. Frantic strings then open “Sienar Avenger”, with a rather nervous playthrough of the Andor theme following warily and orchestral intensity increasing until a crescendo crashes tensely out at the two minute mark. A loud burst of brass ignites action once again in the subsequent “Canyon Run” with thunderous drums and strings following speedily suit, before the music slows to an eerie and malevolent crawl in “Remember Me?” with sinister, slithering electronics occupying centre stage. Warm strings then form an almost waltz-like tone through “The Wedding Begins” before a short burst of hope floods in on warm brass through “Mina-rau”.

This optimism doesn’t last for long as the tone turns wary and worrisome again through much of “Jungle Breakdown”, with moody atmosphere and echoing tribal percussion playing until loud bursts of villainous brass suddenly crescendo out the track. “There’s Nothing Out Here!” and “Jungle Escalation” then continue in much a similar wary percussive vein with echoes of the Andor theme and Empire material from season one. A rumble of drums signals villainy in “Five Hands” with flaring brass & eerie strings before a short worrisome rendition of the Andor theme closes out the cue. The subsequent “He’s Getting Away” then reprises the aforementioned motif but with the full orchestra now roaring, resulting in some decidedly stylish brassy action overall. With the fast pace fading, strings form a solemn lament in “The Veil & The Braid” alongside clanging percussion before the score quietens into a coldly ominous mood for “Inversely Proportional”. Strings-based solemnity occupies “Where’s Wilmon?” and “Mina Run” but with a wary percussive undertone seeded throughout before “Harvest Avenger” kicks action back into gear with the Andor theme heroically front and centre. “Brasso” reprises the “Niamos”-esque club music from the first season (which I’m sure will please many) before “Andor Onward” then closes out the first volume with a happily lengthy and fist-pumpingly grandiose action rendition of the title theme.

Volume two opens with the main title piece for episode four, a wary and rather worried forty second rendition of the Andor theme. Up next is “The Ghorman Waltz” and of note is the fact that this and indeed all of the music for episode four is composed by Nicholas Britell himself rather than Brandon Roberts, as well as a handful of cues from five and six. This first track is a warm and rather atmospheric one, with electronics and strings playing centrally and the latter – expectedly really, given the track title – cementing a dance-like waltz tone throughout. Moody percussion and strings then perpetuate anxiety through “Our Man In Palmo” before “Mon-tage” reprises the upbeat yet worrisome Mon Mothma material from the first season. “Palmo Town Hall” harkens back to the strained tone of the earlier Palmo cue, though this doesn’t last for long as an explosion of imposing action rocks the boat in “Saw Gerrera” with high-pitched strings and angry brass firmly in charge for the remainder of the four minute track. Brandon Roberts then returns for the intriguingly distorted main title cue for episode five – though the Andor theme is still very much apparent – with the short “Ghorman Intel” continuing the wary espionage-esque tone displayed throughout this volume so far. Britell then covers the solemn strings-heavy “I Was There”, before Roberts retakes the reins for the electronic-centric and more upbeat “Varian Skye”.

Roberts’ “Kafhaus Number 1” is another pleasantly upbeat dance-like track, though anxiety does start to seep back into the music in the subsequent “House Of Rylanz” by Britell. Roberts then takes back over fully for the next section of cues, with the wary “Palmo Recon” and “Let It Run Wild” cementing worrisome orchestral ambience throughout both their runtimes before the main title piece for episode six then reprises the Andor theme in dramatically grandiose action style à la “Andor Onward”. “Kafhaus Reunion” brings back the upbeat strings material from the earlier Kafhaus cue, before the minute-long “Oathbreaker” heads into much darker and murkier territory with eerie brassy bursts, strings and cold electronic atmosphere. A sudden grandiose burst of brass signals a leap into heroic action in “Sculdun Tower”, sounding more and more Rebellion-like by the minute as hopeful strings and percussion also join the fray. “Crates In Motion” then continues where it leaves off with echoes of the Andor theme now accompanying the brisk pace. With the second volume starting to approach its end, “Doctor Heal Thyself” slows the music back down for a more solemn and reflective piece with plinking percussion and echoing, sorrowful strings before “The Bix Is Back” suddenly thunders heroically in for an awesomely epic electronics-focused action setpiece with the Andor theme emphatically centre stage.

Solemn strings rising in grandiosity open the rather powerful main title piece for episode seven, before “Yavin” then elevates the rising hope tremendously with a surge of triumphant orchestra to represent the rapidly growing Rebellion. “We Are The Ghor” plays a quietly inward and thoughtful strings-based motif for the Ghorman people – which will go on to be quite impactful later on – before a surgingly heroic rendition of the Andor theme then powers into play in “The Force Healer”. The theme then quietens for “Sniper”, playing on hopeful strings alongside energetic percussion, though things do start to get tenser towards the end of the two minute track. Grandly operatic vocals are then the focal point of the subsequent “I Knew – Ghorman Aria”, with this and the similarly wary main title piece for episode eight together tonally signalling terrible things to come. Ominous orchestral and vocal ambience then soaks up any last drops of hope in the eerie “The Plaza Fills” and tensely aggressive “The Galaxy Is Watching”, and you can practically cut the ever-building orchestral tension with a knife in “Fire At Will” before action finally unleashes in deafeningly imposing form on electronics and blasting brass in “Put Them Out There” and the subsequent drum-heavy “Who Are You” as thunderous drums take centre stage.

A great sorrow takes over for the next few tracks; “Palmo One” begins with downtrodden, morose strings playing throughout its five minute runtime before “We Are The Ghor (Planetary Anthem)” reprises the Ghorman theme from earlier for a powerfully mournful vocal lament. “Elegy For Ghorman” then concludes this particularly sorrowful chapter with an initial focus on anguished strings that then build to a tremendous crescendo with the full orchestra thundering alongside. A rather restrained rendition of the Andor theme then plays together with echoes of the Ghorman vocals in the main title cue for episode nine before wary atmosphere overtakes in “Bug”. Tension then starts to rise again in “Article 17-252” as anxious brass plays over moody percussive undertones, with “I Have Friends Everywhere” continuing in much a similar strained vein as frightened action starts to take the stage. The Andor theme then surges semi-heroically back into the fray for the subsequent “Welcome To The Rebellion” as the anxious action carries over and then concludes at the end of the three and a half minute frenetic setpiece. With the end of volume three approaching, “Bix’s Message” ramps up the emotions with solemn, crescendoing strings before “Senate Escape Suite” concludes things with a dramatically ominous action cue.

The final volume begins with the main title piece for episode ten, a tense and moody rendition of the Andor theme with eerie electronic murmurs and pulsing percussion. This ominous tone continues into the subsequent and primarily ambient “A Weapon” before surges of worrisome brass overtake in the continually building “What Have You Done?” alongside several wary playthroughs of the Andor theme. Orchestral solemnity then starts to become the focal point of the music in “We’ve Made Our Choice” as a brief reprisal of Luthen’s theme from season one occurs on forlorn brass and sorrowful strings, with this idea then cementing fully in the subsequent and lengthy “Luthen…” with a full, downtrodden rendition of the titular character’s motif. With the orchestral anguish fading, the title cue for episode eleven then starts to re-seed action and hope into the score with a bolder, more dramatic playthrough of the Andor theme. “It’s Only Her” then settles somewhat back into moody ominousness as creepy electronic textures and wary strings occupy much of its two minute runtime with hints toward the motif for the ISB. A brief return to Luthen’s theme then opens “Safe House Fractal” before hope practically bursts into the fray on brass as the Yavin theme returns.

Interesting, this Yavin theme. It plays again in “Mayday!”, and while it is genuinely good, I do find it a little odd that they didn’t just… use John Williams’ theme for the Rebellion. Like, why make a new theme when that’s sitting right there? Oh well. Tense percussive and electronic ambience then occupies the next few cues before dramatic action setpiece “Safe House Showdown” crashes out the action with a thunderously victorious rendition of the Andor theme. “Escort To Yavin” then reprises the aforementioned hopeful Yavin theme for an enjoyably lengthy playthrough before the short “He Made It Worth It” returns to solemnity with a morose rendition of the Andor theme. Happily though, as the finale of the album and indeed the show itself comes together, we’re treated to a soaringly hopeful and happily lengthy rendition of Andor’s theme in “Past/Present/Future”, with it playing in a manner much akin to the standout “Past/Present Suite” from season one before Bix’s romantic theme from earlier then reprises to close out the cue. Interestingly, the final track is then “The Throne Room And End Title” – a straight re-recording of the back half of the end credits for John Williams’ A New Hope score. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, I did ask for some Williams here, but… it does feel a little jarring. Not even a hint towards the traditional Williams’ Star Wars themes in any of the music for season two, then suddenly this plays. Didn’t feel earned, but it’s nice to have all the same.

Overall then, Brandon Roberts and Nicholas Britell’s score for Andor season two largely follows the same thematic and stylistic approach as Britell’s season one (unsurprisingly really), so if you liked that season’s score you’re going to love this – and it even gets bigger and bolder towards the end to boot. The orchestra is a bit more colourful with Roberts’ side but the structural album split between worrisome ambience, tense action and upbeat diagetic cues is largely the same, with the ever-tense-yet-determined Andor theme naturally still centre stage (and no complaints here, as it’s a genuinely great piece). The tracks where it features heavily are natural highlights, with “Andor Onward” and “Past/Present/Future” being the absolute standouts. Personally, I’m pretty happy with the music for season two. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Britell’s score the first time around back in 2022, but I’ve come to accept that it works well for the show it’s in, and in fairness its main theme as mentioned is pretty great. We did get a bit of traditional John Williams Star Wars soundtrack flair as the season concluded and the Rebellion fully formed as well, which is fantastic (even though it did feel a little jarring just jamming the end credits piece for A New Hope in there). All-in though, it’s a pretty stellar score from Roberts and Britell – come for the Andor theme, stay for the Andor theme!

Score: 8/10

Standout Cues: Andor Onward, The Bix Is Back, Past/Present/Future

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