When The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (The Album) arrives Nov. 13 on MCA, with a slate of songs inspired by the upcoming latest film in The Hunger Games franchise, the 29-song album will feature an eclectic lineup of artists spanning rock, country, Americana, pop and more.
Ella Langley joins on “Here Then We’re Gone,” with the star-studded album also featuring Stephen Wilson Jr. (“First in Line”), Stevie Nicks (“Doing The Best That I Can (Arena Mix)”), Tyler Childers (“Old Money”), The Smashing Pumpkins (“Black Stars”) and Noah Kahan (“Draw You Out”), among others.
“We got to live the fantasy league of dream artists we wanted to work with,” Dave Cobb, the project’s Grammy-winning executive producer, tells Billboard. “And the through line of all of it is honesty. I think people listen to music in such a varied way. So this is really all the things we love about great artists and great music.”
The Lionsgate film Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will release in theaters on Nov. 20. Spearheaded by director Francis Lawrence, the film centers on 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy from District 12, and begins the morning of the reaping for the 50th annual Hunger Games. Set 24 years prior to the events in the original Hunger Games trilogy, the movie follows Abernathy as he attempts to put a stop to the Hunger Games from inside the arena. Accordingly, the soundtrack weaves in a myriad of emotional profiles.
“The record has so many layers. It has triumph, sadness, and it has loss and it has love,” Cobb says. “I think that’s the way we looked at everything, songs that would fit every emotion that the movie has. Definitely, we talked to some of the artists about what we were looking for. Most of the artists, they loved the franchise already. They’d read the book. It was incredible to see how excited people were.”
Some artists, like Noah Cyrus (“Ash and Snow”), were inspired by specific characters from the franchise. Cobb recalled that Gigi Perez (“Favor”) was the first to send in music for the project.
“Gigi Perez was the first person we got a song back from, and she had been such a massive fan [of The Hunger Games], knew every detail,” Cobb recalls.
One of the many highlights for Cobb on the album was The Smashing Pumpkins’ contribution “Black Stars.”
“We talked about the feeling, and it was really cool — because he called Butch Vig, who produced [the Pumpkins’ 1993 sophomore album] Siamese Dream and the stuff that got me into Smash Pumpkins,” Cobb says. “It was nice to have them all back together. It was the band back together with the original producer on the records that defined The Smashing Pumpkins, for me at least.”
The soundtrack is packed with hitmakers such as Kahan, Langley, Kacey Musgraves, Nicks and The Cure, but also highlights the talents of emerging artists including Madeline Edwards and Carter Faith.
“When Madeline’s hitting those big notes in that song, it’ll just shake you to the core,” Cobb says. “And Carter’s such an incredible singer, there’s so many magical moments on this.”
Cobb, known for his work with artists including Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and Ashley Monroe, has also gained acclaim for his work on film soundtracks and film-adjacent musical works including 2022’s ELVIS, 2018’s A Star Is Born and the previous Hunger Games installment, 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
To Cobb, the appeal of soundtrack work lies in the ability to create beyond the confines of a more traditional album.
“Every one of them is different,” he says. “When I did A Star is Born, you’re writing for characters, which is really great. Elvis was fun because I love Elvis, and getting to try to recreate some of that stuff was fun. And this is a totally different thing. This is also getting to live in a character. You get to go be in somebody else’s mindset for a little while.
“I think people wrote their truths into the Hunger Games universe on this,” Cobb adds.
See the full tracklist for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (The Album) below:
“The Raven I,” Whitney Peak
“Ash and Snow,” Noah Cyrus
“First in Line,” Stephen Wilson Jr
“See It Coming,” Bella Kay
“The Wheel,” Lizzy McAlpine
“The Raven II,” Whitney Peak
“Dove Song,” Sydney Rose
“Here Then We’re Gone,” Ella Langley
“Wrestle with God,” Madeline Edwards
“Ruthless (Arena Mix),” Kacey Musgraves
“No Destination,” Billy Vincent
“The Raven III,” Whitney Peak
“Favor,” Gigi Perez
“But You Wanted More,” Hudson Freeman
“Black Stars,” The Smashing Pumpkins
“Half Alive,” Mckenna Grace
“Doing The Best That I Can (Arena Mix),” Stevie Nicks
“The Goose and The Common,” Whitney Peak
“Survive (Arena Mix | KÁRYYN Rework),” Depeche Mode & KÁRYYN
“Same Blood,” Emelie Trahan
“May Brings Flowers,” Kashus Culpepper
“The Old Therebefore,” Scot Greenan
“Can’t Let You Go,” Carter Faith
“Old Money – Tyler Childers
“Show Me Where The Ending Starts,” Madison Cunningham
“Deep in the Meadow,” Jennifer Lawrence
“Draw You Out,” Noah Kahan
“Metal Birds,” Violet Grohl
“Alone (Live in Berlin 2022),” The Cure
