The last thing you’d have expected to see this year was a Minions soundtrack that features artists such as BROCKHAMPTON, Diana Ross and Phoebe Bridgers. But Jack Antonoff has somehow made it happen.
The 19-track album was produced for the brand new movie ‘Minions: Rise Of Gru’ and features covers from artists such as Kali Uchis, Thundercat and Caroline Polachek.
When it came to creating the soundtrack, the President of global music at Universal Pictures Mike Knobloch was the one to approach Antonoff, labelling him ‘pop’s favourite producer’. Antonoff frequently works with artists such as Taylor Swift, Lorde and Lana Del Rey, and had previously worked with Knobloch to create I Don’t Wanna Live Forever for the Fifty Shades Of Grey soundtrack.
‘In a groove’
Speaking about the creation of the soundtrack, Knobloch said: ‘We were just kind of already in a groove, and always on the prowl for something that we could sink our teeth into together, and then this ‘Minions’ movie presented a really great opportunity to go further than, “Let’s just put ’70s songs in the movie”. There was an opportunity to say, “Alright, what can we do with these songs, and do they need to be the genuine article or is there an opportunity to do covers, updated interpretations, refreshes of the songs?”‘
Minions: The Rise of Gru is set in 1976 San Francisco and follows the story of how the minions became Gru’s sidekicks. It is the second ‘Minions’ film and the fifth movie in the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise.
The soundtrack features a groovy cover of ‘Funkytown’ by St. Vincent, originally by Lipps Inc., as well as an incredibly infectious new song ‘Turn Up The Sunshine’ by Diana Ross and Tame Impala – strange combination right? But it works so well. Phoebe Bridgers also offers her twist to ‘Goodbye To Love’, originally by The Carpenters, and you can even hear the minions sing ‘Cecilia’ by Simon & Garfunkel. What a mix.
Take a listen to the soundtrack to the summer below.
