Milan Records releases the soundtrack to The Last of Us: Season 2 with music composed by Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming. Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind...

For me, the score for Season 2 of The Last of Us was one that took quite some time to warm too. Apart from the familiar main theme (which is also the main theme to the game), there at first appeared to be very little here to sink your teeth into. The album is main comprised of atmospheric, dreamy drawn out themes that act more as background ambiance to the onscreen action. There's an overall feel of futuristic Western running through the album, as you'd expect.

The album contains 41 tracks (1 hr, 51 min 23 sec) which includes 4 vocal songs, including a cover of A-ha’s hit song 'Take on Me', performed within the show by lead actor Bella Ramsey.

Discussing the score, co-composer Gustavo Santaolalla says: "Working on the music for the second season of The Last of Us allowed me to delve deeper into this extraordinary story originally created by Neil Druckmann for the game. This is a season filled with unexpected narrative turns and introduces some very important new characters. Collaborating once again with David Fleming has been instrumental in achieving a balance between emotionally introspective moments and action-driven sequences. I chose once more to stay true to the sounds, moods, and style that have become trademarks of this story’s music."

Co-composer David Fleming adds: "The second season of The Last of Us is an expansion in every way, and that broadening of scope applied to the music as well. It continues to be an honour to compose this score alongside Gustavo Santaolalla, building not only on what we did together in the first season but also on the incredible music he has created for this story across mediums. Revisiting the world of The Last of Us became an opportunity for me personally to really explore the sonic worlds of these characters, as they come face to face with battles greater and depths darker than they've ever encountered before."

While there's very little here to get overly excited about, fans of the show will no doubt relish the opportunity to add this to their soundtrack collection.

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Darren Rea