Soundscape
The film features the haunting and original music of David Bryant, founding member of Godspeed You Black Emperor!, and Jean-Frédéric Messier, composer, playwright and founder of Theatre Momentum. A diverse and eclectic group of musicians can be heard on the soundtrack, including players from Set Fire To Flames, Silver Mount Zion, and the Shalabi Effect. Well before shooting was completed, much of the film’s mood and tone had been influenced by this music, much of which is the result of improvised sessions guided by Bryant and musicians Thierry Amar, Genevieve Heistek, Jessica and Nadia Moss, and Alexandre St-Onge.
In addition to music, Bryant also developed unorthodox foley and sound effects. To create the creaks and moans of the sleeping train, the steel guts of an antique piano were blowtorched and doused with dry ice. The combination of a girls’ choir, a growling bear, a jet engine and a screwdriver aggressively scraping an electric guitar all collide in the controlled cacophony that is the runaway train. In all aspects of the sound and music, the same experimental and avant-garde spirit that informed the rest of the film was embraced.