Candyman is on the Oscars shortlist for Best Original Score nomination

When the Candyman reboot was in theatres back in August, a promotional featurette was released that put the spotlight on composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. As it turns out, that featurette may be a look at the creation of an Oscar-nominated score, as it has been revealed that Candyman is in the running for a Best Original Score nomination!

Lowe spent more than nine months composing and recording the Candyman score, which includes sounds that were recorded in the now-abandoned Cabrini-Green area. Lowe told Variety he recorded

the wind rushing through the buildings, the creaking of doors, [sounds inside] old electrical boxes, insects around. Also, I prompted some of the actors to say certain words or phrases into the recorder. Then I took those words and phrases and granularly processed them down to where they were no longer understandable as a word or voice, and used those as textural elements within the score. … I also had [actor] Colman Domingo say ‘Candyman’ and really crushed it, made it into a buzzing, skittering sound. … I was treating a lot of the voices, and sounds in general, as apparitions. It’slmost like you have all of these ghosts weaving in and out of the story, or imparting their own particular story, in different moments throughout the film.”

The score also features Lowe’s voice and the voice of his friend, Oscar-winning Joker composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, who plays cello on the score. Lowe says he was trying to create a mood of unease and atmosphere of dread “without providing any emotional bias”.

Candyman is one of 15 scores on the Oscars shortlist. The others are Dune (Hans Zimmer), The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood), Spencer (Jonny Greenwood), Encanto (Germaine Franco), Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias), The French Dispatch (Alexandre Desplat), Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell), The Tragedy of Macbeth (Carter Burwell), The Last Duel (Harry Gregson-Williams), The Green Knight (Daniel Hart), King Richard (Kris Bowers), Being the Ricardos (Daniel Pemberton), No Time to Die (Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro), and The Harder They Fall (Jeymes Samuel).

Do you think the Candyman reboot score should be up for an Oscar? Let us know your thoughts on Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe’s music by leaving a comment below.