Ben Frost composed the score to creepy new Netflix series 'Dark' (listen to the soundtrack)

January 8, 2018

Have you seen that Netflix series about the weird small town where strange things happen and children disappear and it’s the ’80s and there’s an eerie synth score? No, the German one. I’m talking about Dark, Netflix’s first German-language original series and, despite that actual vague description, it’s nothing at all like Stranger Things. The vibe is sorrowful and foreboding, like the Sword of Damocles is hanging above the entire town of Winden where it never seems to stop raining. (Vibe-wise it’s got more in common with Top of the Lake or The Killling but with a sci-fi bent and clockwork plotting.) The less you know going into it, the better, but it’s a very compelling series and has been picked up for a second season.

The score is by Australian-born, Iceland-based electronic composer Ben Frost whose intense, at times unsettling, style really compliments the series’ atmosphere, and the Sinfonietta Cracovia string quartet really bring it to life. While his full score hasn’t been released, Ben did share one movement and you can listen to that below.

Dark also makes good use of contemporary music in the series. The theme song is “Goodbye” by Apparat with Soap & Skin, and the series also features songs by Fever Ray, Roomful of Teeth, Agnes Obel, and more. You may also come to appreciate a song by ’80s German band Nena that isn’t “99 Luftballons.” You can stream a Spotify playlist of songs from Dark below.

Ben Frost released The Centre Cannot Hold in 2017.