Tuesday (March 22) is World Water Day, which has been observed annually since 1993 to raise awareness about the 2 billion people on Earth who are living without access to safe water.
Dance icons Above & Beyond are doing their part to contribute to address the world’s urgent environmental issues by contributing their music to a new documentary about the causes and effects of climate change. This IMAX film, The Last Glaciers, is out today in select theaters.
Made of strings, piano and electronic instruments, the trance trio’s score is grand and contemplative, with darker moments that parallel the dire situation all living things face in relation to our changing climate. (The Washington Post reported that temperatures in Antarctica earlier this week were 70 degrees above normal.) The Last Glaciers soundtrack was made in collaboration with longtime friend of Above & Beyond, Darren Tate. Listen to the 11-part score below.
The Last Glaciers was directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Craig Leeson (A Plastic Ocean) and environmental documentary filmmaker Malcolm Wood. Filmed over four years, the documentary depicts a journey to explore the cause and effects of climate change in Antarctica, the Himalayas, the Alps, the Andes and more.
“For the musical direction, we felt it important for the score to reflect the beauty of our changing planet that Craig had elegantly captured,” Above & Beyond’s Jono Grant says in a press release. “Stylistically we wanted to combine our largely electronic musical background with live orchestra to create a hybrid score. It was important to us that the score both reflect the challenges facing the world today, and those faced by Craig as an individual and filmmaker over the course of filming. As well as conveying a sense of urgency, we wanted the score to portray an optimistic tone, and to encourage a positive call to action from the viewer.”
The soundtrack is the latest in a long list of progressively minded projects Above & Beyond has been a part of, including a yoga event series and Flow State, an album of meditation music.
