As this millennium progresses, television show soundtracks continue to experience a renaissance. Music that used to be “canned” for continual implementation episode-after-episode has more and more been tossed aside in lieu of more cinematic theming and more elaborate compositional techniques. For five seasons now, Daniel Licht has provided a Pandora’s Box full of musical treats with his work on the Showtime Original Series DEXTER. And the latest soundtrack, for Season 5, is no exception.
The soundtrack, like many of the previous DEXTER soundtracks, kicks off with a string of Latin-flavored dance and pop music. These tracks give us a false sense of security, as we would normally associate Miami with seemingly endless parties. However, this is DEXTER we’re talking about, and the celebration quickly gives way to the long shadows of nightfall.
“Blood Theme 2010” begins and ends with a music box-styled motif that pronounces new life (implying the recent birth of Dexter Morgan’s son) and a rebirth of sorts of Dexter as an updated, more human monster. The theme is also accentuated with angelic moans, as though Rita is urging Dexter to move forward, from the other side. The theme recurs throughout the season, making its presence once again known in “Go Home.”
“Nurse Dexter” continues the somber, mournful, and gentler side of Dexter that has very rarely surfaced in the past. And yet, Licht accents this tender theme with eerie Herrmann-esque string-work to remind us that the Dark Avenger still lurks behind the man’s eyes.
“Headstart” plunges into daily life and a “new project,” as it were; utilizing an assortment of percussion and string devices to emphasize the duality that dwells within every character in the series – what appears as normal usually is not.
“Don’t Be Sorry” begins romantically ballad-like, driven by delicate Spanish guitar and glowing synthesizers, before bleeding into Danny Elfman-ish, ethereal choirs and vampiric piano riffing.
Licht’s extensive use of Latin percussion at various points in the soundtrack not only adds a sense of setting (or locale) for the show, but it gets our blood pumping a little bit faster; his technique is at once sexy and devious. However, DEXTER soundtracks are typified by a tumult of rollercoasting emotions, as “The Kids Leave” yanks us back to morose reality in a sullen, piano-and-violin laced subdued lullaby.
“Red Rainbows” sees Licht playing various stringed instruments against one another, as though inciting a mischievous cat-and-mouse game.
A track like “The Pond” almost evokes a sense of purity, by way of Licht’s knack of controlled minimalism, as there are moments throughout the series that are so mentally confounding (like the discovery at the pond) that musical complexity would overpower and inaccurately describe the wellspring of thought and feeling that one may experience in that situation.
And closing the track with an echo of “Blood Theme” expresses the stiffening of Dexter’s resolve and gives his “mission” renewed focus (which, as we well know, will result in him “taking out the trash”).
The track that will end up haunting our collective memories, however, is “Eulogy/Have a Chance,” which is resolution, conclusion, and reflection wrapped in a macabre ballroom dance that makes the hair on the back of our necks stand on end – as though providing advance mental preparation for the upcoming season.
DEXTER: Season 5 soundtrack is currently available at Amazon and Amazon Digital.
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