Sophia Laforteza of HER, Bini, Lea Salonga, and Katseye is one of the artists leading the soundtrack for DreamWorks Animation’s “Forgotten Island.”
The film will be previewed at next week’s Annecy Animation Film Festival and is expected to be released in theaters later this year. Here, HER and Liza Soberano voice Joe and Raissa, two best friends who embark on their final adventure together. Their journey takes them into a night filled with shapeshifters, demons, and witches, and their friendship is tested as they struggle to escape through a magical portal and find their way home.
The film’s music blends influences from the 1980s and 90s, and is particularly inspired by Filipino and Filipino-American musical culture.
When Angela Reus, Universal Pictures’ senior vice president of film music and a Filipino-American, first met the film’s directors, Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, they agreed that the film’s music had to be rooted in authenticity. Raised in the Philippines and surrounded by the music his parents loved, Reus seized the opportunity to pay homage to the artists who have influenced his life while raising awareness of Philippine music and artists of the older and newer generations.
“From the beginning, I said, ‘I need to get to know all the Filipino music creators out there,’ so I ended up diving deep into the Philippines and the community here and reaching out a lot,” Reus says. “It was about educating ourselves about who was out there.”
Bringing excitement to Coachella both weekends, P-Pop band Bini brings a new song to the soundtrack titled “A Parallel World,” produced by composers Nathan Matthew David and Sean Wasabi. As for Bini, Reus had already noticed their presence quite early on.
“Joel and Jan had a very creative understanding of what the music could be, so it was very easy for me to come to them and say, ‘There’s this group called Vini, and they’re great.’ It was easy, and it was easy to get to that point,” she says. The song incorporates David’s theme of Joe and Raissa’s friendship, but reinterprets it in a fresh way.
Similarly, the film features a remixed version of INXS’s classic “Never Tear Us Apart” sung by Katsy’s Sofia LaForteza for an emotional moment between the two friends.
Reus explains that the INXS song was important to the filmmakers because it encapsulates Joe and Raissa’s relationship. “It was important to use the original INXS recording because it represents their friendship as young girls, but that’s where the idea came from to bring in Katzei’s Sofia LaForteza, who is the villain as we watch them grow up. She put a new spin on it to show the evolution of their friendship,” says Reus, adding, “The song parallels their friendship and captures the journey from where they were to who they are.”
The film’s two female leads, HER and Soberano, helm the film’s title song, “BRB.” Their voices capture the nostalgia, warmth, and joy that radiates from the characters and the film as a whole. Reus says neither she nor the filmmakers wanted to assume that HER would create original music. “Everything had to come from an organic place,” Reus says. “But when she saw the movie, she was so inspired that she decided to write something. And even more inspired, she brought in Liza.”
Reus added, “We are very fortunate that this is the final result, because it not only perfectly represents Joe and Raissa in the story, but also perfectly represents two strong Filipinos.” She further teases, “I wanted to make sure that this song had Tagalog in it. As a Filipino, hearing that song, seeing it on screen, hearing Tagalog on the world stage is incredibly special.”
And what would the soundtrack be without Salonga’s vocals?
When composing the music, David came up with the idea of having Salonga create the vocalizations to bring musicality to the film. Reus says, “She was able to stay true to the story and still express it in a musical way. When you look at Lea Salonga’s work, she’s a real professional and a badass.”
In addition to original songs from the film, Filipino boy band SB19 will cover Francis M’s classic song “Muga Kababayan,” and Ruby Ibarra will sing “Salbahaye Ako” with Carl Angelo. The soundtrack also includes DMX’s “Party Up” and Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out.”
When it came to composing the film’s music, David knew he needed a nostalgic feeling. “We relied heavily on the analog synths of the time,” he says. It has elements of 80’s pop and hip hop. But once the girls wander into a mysterious portal and end up on Nakari Island, “the story evolves and the sound evolves,” says David. He will introduce indigenous Philippine music and instruments, utilizing traditional Filipino instruments such as chanters, the Las Piñas bamboo pipe organ, and a Filipino choir singing Tagalog phrases.
For David, this score was not just about embracing the unique sounds of the Philippines, but using them intentionally. As Salonga’s terrifying creature, he used a talking gong known as the indigenous gandingan, a traditional instrument from the southern Philippines.
Crawford and Mercado shared their excitement. Crawford said, “What has always been thrilling for us is giving voice to Filipino culture and Filipino stories and seeing how that is reflected in this freshness of the music. Even having Vini, who has taken the world by storm with her talent, perform for us,” says Crawford. All these voices that people may have already noticed are now taking center stage, with Sofia LaForteza bringing a new perspective to classic songs like “Apart.” The stage is really cool. ”
He added, “So many amazingly talented Filipino artists have come together to create this unified experience. I couldn’t have imagined they would come together so perfectly.”
