The Inquisitor, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 and more

Another batch of under-the-radar gems covering synth, jazz, orchestral and world music. And a premiere release of a 90s trance gem by The Fast and the Furious composer Brian Transeau (who’s released some of his back catalogue recently).

The Inquisitor (Omar Fadel, 2025)

Angela Lynn Tucker’s documentary, which has traveled the festival circuit until its streaming premiere in February 2026, tells the story of political trailblazer Barbara Jordan, who became the first Southern black woman to join congress in 1972. Composer Omar Fadel (previously unknown to me) taps into pop and jazz fusions for his score – with prominent use of solo saxophone and the Wurlitzer keyboard that many of us associate with (this author’s favourite band) Supertramp, but also black artists like Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye; not altogether unfitting, given the backdrop. It’s a slick and smooth work, beautifully breezy, that only occasionally goes into darker places. A definite highlight of the year so far. Favourite tracks: «My World Had Been All Black», «The 5th Ward», «Discriminatory Districts (feat. Omar El-Deeb)»

L’enfant du désert (Armand Amar, 2026)

Based on Monica Zac’s novel, this is a Tarzan-like story about a young nomad boy who is lost to the desert at age 2, but is raised by ostriches(!) and somehow survives. It’s been a while since French documentary composer extraordinaire Armand Amar wowed me – perhaps all the way back to Un sac de billes in 2017. But for this film, there are hints of his former glory. Especially the more downkey moments relying on undulating piano figures, strings, ethnic instruments and haunting voices. Alas, there are also several stretches of static, non-descript suspense tropes inbetween the “old-school” Amar – the one-hour album could easily have used a 20-minute whittle to flow more elegantly. But certainly alludes to the Amar I fell in love with in the mid 2000s. Favourite tracks: «La caravane», «Suavé par les autruches», «L’enfant du désert II»

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 (Brad Breeck, 2026)

This is an animated spin-off series on Netflix, taking place between season two and three of its super popular parent series Stranger Things. Gone now are original series composers Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon. In their stead is Brad Breeck (b. 1978), whose greatest claim to fame up to this point may be the theme for the series Gravity Falls. Breeck has brought along some of the dark, zithering textures that defined the Stein & Dixon work, but thankfully leans more heavily on traditional synthwave for the rest. While the John Carpenter vibe always hides underneath (and sadly some ostinato-driven “trailer elements” towards the end that I could be without), it’s mostly a more open and accessible sound world this time around, with pronounced themes and funky riffs. I think I prefer this to the Stein & Dixon, controversial as that may seem. Favourite tracks: «Big Snowstorm Coming», «I Just Saved Your Life», «Heaven Eleven»

Police Flash 80 (Alexis Rault, 2026)

A riff on the 80s cop thriller, this French action comedy tells the story of an elderly policeman whose partner is killed, after which he is set to lead group of young recruits. The takeaway here is the delightful, funkalicious synthwave score by Alexis Rault (b. 1981). Nodding reverentially to the period-specific works of Faltermeyer and Moroder, it’s a score whose 8-minute, single-style format soundtrack release only provides a tease. Wish there were more!

Ceux qui comptent (Fred Avril & Pierre Lottin, 2026)

This is a French drama about a reclusive young man who meets a single mom of three, and the connections they make, as an unlikely family. Composer Fred Avril (who recently worked on the ambitious, but flawed animation sci fi Mars Express), teams up with actor-composer Pierre Lotin for this suave pop score, circling around the same, melancholic melody heard in the opening song. Only 17 minutes in length, but the theme gets bang for its buck through its several permutations.

Fackham Hall (Oli Julian, 2025)

British spoof/satire on the historical romance genre (‘fackham hall’/’fuck’em all’, geddit?), starring Damian Lewis and Katerine Waterston, among others. There is nothing spoofy about the music, though – composer Oli Julian approaches the proceedings with a straight face, providing elegant, neo-romantic flourishes, heavy on waltzes. Legendary composer David Arnold supposedly also wrote music for this, but only Julian is credited on the soundtrack. Be that as it may, it’s one of those free-flowing, romantic-orchestral, quintessentially British scores that are rarely heard this side of Downton Abbey – neatly curated at about half an hour – and instantly pleasing. Favourite tracks: «Opening», «Back to Fackham», «Inspector Watt To You»

Go (Brian Transeau, 2026 [1999])

Trance guru and occasional film composer Brian Transeau (aka BT) recently unearthed and released several scores from his back catalogue (out of the blue!), including racing car classics Driven (2001) and The Fast and the Furious (2001). But the real highlight in the batch was his previously unreleased score for Go – the 1999 crime comedy by Doug Liman (before he hit it big with the first Jason Bourne film), about a drug deal told from three different angles. BT infuses it with the sleek, melodic trance elements that were popular at the time, and that he himself championed in his 90s studio albums. Slowly building and evolving across its 26 minutes, with chopped-up voice samples, occasional scrubbing, spacey sounds and acidic backbeats interspersed throughout. A lot of contemporary heist movie tropes can be traced back to this one, I think – a delightful romp of a score. Favourite tracks: «Ronna’s Theme» , «Flush the Pills», «Believer»