The series’ main theme is curiously oriental-sounding, with lots of light, airy elements: the track perfectly evokes the idea of the unusual and the supernatural without straying into sounding overly gothic or menacing. The use of chimes and lighter percussive instruments throughout the album carries this on, making the score instantly recognisable as Being Human.
No emotion or tone is left unexplored, resulting in an extremely well-rounded collection. Picked out from the show’s first and second series, the 24 tracks are a strong mix of the soft, the sad, and the dramatic.
The string-laden ‘A Wonderful Thing’ is beautifully moving, reminiscent of James Newton Howard’s score for The Sixth Sense, while ‘Annie’s Theme’ and ‘Lucky’ are highlights among the lighter, chirpier numbers. Pathos is perfectly evoked by the moodier tracks – ‘Someone Else’, for example, uses violin and piano to create one of the album’s most emotional tracks.
However, it’s the darker tracks that stand out most, most notably on ‘Annie’s Door’ and ‘Box Tunnel Massacre’. Even without the context of the show, these are genuinely unsettling and scary pieces that are ominous and a bit jarring in comparison to the largely soft-sounding soundtrack – certainly not ones to listen to on your iPod while walking down a dark alley.
As an accompaniment to Being Human, Wells’ soundtrack is brilliantly evocative in both the incidental and the dramatic tracks, largely managing to tell a story without pictures or words.
Released on CD and download on Monday 7th March 2011 by Silva Screen.