The ‘Industry’ Season 2 Soundtrack Is Synth Magic

If there’s one track we remember most from the first season of HBO’s zillenial workplace fever dream, Industry, it has to be Nathan Micay’s “Blue Spring,” a frenetic electric instrumental inspired partly by Vangelis (think Chariots of Fire) and used as the series’ theme. Frenetic is maybe the best way to describe the HBO series, which returned for a second season this week, a series seemingly bent on taking young workplace power politics and boofing it with a mountain of cocaine.

Micay, a Toronto born DJ/producer/composer, returns for Season 2, having added all new music to the series’ score. You can listen to his first season work here. (Micay’s full work on Season 2 will be released digitally in the coming months, according to HBO.)

In an interview with Composer, Micay described his initial reading of Industry’s tone and the music he felt best suited the series.

"At my initial meeting in London, HBO had already sent me a few episodes to watch. They asked me what kind of sound I envisioned for the scenes, and I came back with Tangerine Dream, Risky Business. That soundtrack has this young naivety to it – but also a sense of glamour. It turned out that they had the same thing in mind: some of the temp tracks in one of the episodes were actually from Risky Business."

Micay also wanted to use the music to highlight the differences in characters like Harper and Eric, the mentor and protégé core of the show. “When you see Harper and her friend Jasmine in the show, I wanted the synths to give a sense of euphoria; the rush of their excitement,” Micay explained to Composer. Older characters were given more strings to suggest something “opulent, regal” and serious. “The keyword I was given to describe Eric’s character was earthquake,” Micay went on. “Whenever he comes on screen all you hear is sub-bass – like you would hear in old dubstep. I wanted the music to reflect this crushing feeling.”

Outside of Micay’s bangers, the series utilizes other electronic-based dance and pop tracks, mostly for the same purpose—to enhance both the youthful euphoria and glamor of the job and its more crushing realities.

As we wait for Micay’s music to release, here’s the full song list for Season 2 of Industry.