"He wasn’t all that sure that the song delivered the right emotional climax for his final Bond outing"
The co-producer of Billie Eilish and Finneas‘ James Bond theme song ‘No Time To Die’ has revealed how the pair won over the film’s star, Daniel Craig.
Ahead of the UK release of the long-awaited 007 film tomorrow (September 30), Stephen Lipson discussed last year’s ‘No Time To Die’ theme song, which was written and performed by Billie Eilish with help from Finneas, Lipson, Hans Zimmer and Johnny Marr.
Discussing the process of creating a theme that Craig was satisfied with, Lipson told Music Week: “Most important was getting Daniel’s approval. I finished the mix and everybody was happy but we still had to get Daniel on board. From the start, quite understandably, he wasn’t all that sure that the song delivered the right emotional climax for his final Bond outing, so satisfying him was key.
“I delivered the mix and Barbara [Broccoli], who was more than happy, called me to say that Daniel was coming to London and we needed to play it to him. I suggested that he come to my studio as I knew that, compared to any other location, it was without doubt the best sonic environment in which to hear it.”
He added: “It was agreed that he’d come to the studio on the following Sunday, so on the designated day I got in a few hours before Barbara and Daniel were due to arrive just to make sure it sounded as good as it could. Listening to it as if I was Daniel, I realised that the climax needed to be enormous so I spent some time massaging the mix so that, without any perceivable change, it was very much louder at that point.
“I then set the volume of the song so that it was pretty muscular, knowing that the climax would be earth-shattering. They arrived, I sat Daniel in the chair between the speakers, hit play and waited for his response. When the song finished he didn’t look up but asked to hear it once more. Barbara and I had no idea how he felt until the end of his second listening, when he looked up at me and said something like ,‘That’s fucking amazing’.
“As soon as he’d approved it the wheels were set in motion and the news that Billie Eilish was doing the Bond theme song appeared everywhere.”
Elsewhere, Hans Zimmer and Johnny Marr shared two new tracks from their No Time To Die score this week.
On Friday (October 1), the day after the film’s UK opening, the full soundtrack will be available to buy and stream. The film will then open in the US a week later (October 8).
Last night (September 28), No Time To Die held its long-awaited premiere in London.
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