By EmilyRose Nulty
Discovering good music can originate from the strangest places…
Music is universally magical; its ability to connect you to a feeling, a memory, a past version of yourself is rare. Some soundtracks stay with you years after the movie ends.
I’ve always been drawn to music. My parents always had something to play, my dad with Guns n’ Roses or Thin Lizzy, my mam with Keane or R.E.M., and my older brother, who’s always loved music and now makes his own eclectic tracks. Growing up surrounded by all this incredible music, I became obsessed. For me, music evokes emotion and inspires me deeply, and that is exactly what I love about it.
As Zoe Nendick notes for the British Psychological Society, music has been studied for thousands of years, and today scholars continue to explore its connection to emotion. Leonard Meyers, a composer and author, suggested we experience emotions in response to harmonies or chords, especially when they meet or exceed expectations. There are many theories about how music evokes this feeling. Music may connect us to a specific time, but our response depends on mood, which shapes our feelings towards it. Our brains have reward areas triggered when we enjoy music. Nendick explains that ‘musical chills’ are a pleasurable response activating the ventral striatum (pleasure), amygdala (emotion processing), medial prefrontal cortex (self-evaluation), and nucleus accumbens (reward centre).
This connection between music and emotion is exactly why certain movie soundtracks hit me unexpectedly, resonating long after the credits roll and connecting me to memories, emotions, and moments in an incomparable way.
Music & Lyrics – “POP! Goes My Heart”
Music & Lyrics features Hugh Grant, a one-hit wonder popstar from the ’80s, and Drew Barrymore, an artistic, eccentric, grounded character. The movie opens with POP! Goes My Heart, a funky, beat-heavy track filled with 80s synths and clichés. The film even includes a full fake music video for it, which somehow makes it better. I’ll admit I listen to it unironically; it’s one of those songs that just makes you smile. Pure fun, perfectly cheesy, and one of many great tracks on the soundtrack.
Honourable mention – “Way Back Into Love”
This duet is memorable. Hugh Grant and Haley Bennett, who plays the ultimate pop star, are heavily inspired by the likes of Britney Spears. It’s quite the early 2000s pop song with not much lyrical depth, but their voices together work, weird but sweet.
Wild Child – “Let Me Think About It”
One of my favourite transformation scenes in a film, Emma Roberts plays a spoiled American rich girl who has to attend a boarding school in the wet, cold English countryside. This movie had absolute bangers: Shut Up and Drive by Rihanna, About You Now by Sugababes, and Heartbreaker by Will.i.am.
Wild Child is such a fun film, and these songs just work. The song I have never forgotten and is one of my top five hype-type songs is Let Me Think About It by Ida Corr. The beat alone is infectious, and when she starts to sing, it instantly lifts my mood.
Honourable mention – “Chasing Pavements”
Three words: moody scene perfection.
Challengers – “I Know”
Challengers features Zendaya as a tennis prodigy, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor as the best friend, doubles partner, and part of the love triangle. I loved the cinematography and soundtrack, especially the soundtrack. I listened to it months after. I think I connected more with the music than the film. It is difficult to choose just one song, but I Know is definitely up there. The soundtrack features big hits, but the original scores drew me in. I Know is filled with tension, yet it is mixed with a steady, calm beat that changes throughout the track. This film sparked a serious debate between my boyfriend and his best friend; their passion for why one hates it and the other loves it is hilarious to watch.
Honourable mention – “Challengers”
The self-titled track is intense. It captures that adrenaline feel, the rhythm is steady and slowly begins to escalate.
P.S. I Love You – “P.S. I Love You”
Cecelia Ahern is to thank for P.S. I Love You, adapted into a film featuring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler with a terrible Irish accent. They live in New York, but an unfortunate event occurs – I won’t spoil it. John Powell composed the film; while the name may not ring a bell, his work speaks for itself: Kung Fu Panda, Don’t Worry Darling, and Robots. The song that has always stuck with me is P.S. I Love You, the last on the soundtrack. It is a gentle but emotional piece, solely piano, yet it creates a melancholic feeling. It’s beautiful and sad.
Music can hit you unexpectedly; that’s the beauty of it. It becomes an extension of you, your memories, your loved ones. It is part of your story and becomes the background to parts of your life.