When fashionistas and the style and garment-obsessed think of the twin, chic forces of clothier Christian Dior and fragrance maker Coco Chanel, the scent of perfumed, gorgeous clothes and their corresponding chic ambience immediately fill the visual and auditory senses. But there’s way, way more to the glamorous surfaces of these icons of transformative Haute couture, a line of dressmaking that stood for the glamour that France had before the Nazi invasion – and once again reclaimed after their soul-sucking Occupation. Apple +’s “The New Look” chronicles and contrasts the fascist-ruled lives and rebirths of Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Chanel (Juliette Binoche), one a gentle gay man doing his best to create in the midst of the unimaginable, and the other a pathetically bitter woman embracing collaboration with a vengeful passion.
Wrapping these astonishingly revealing portraits together even as they’re apart for the series’ spellbinding ten episodes is the haunting, gorgeous musical tapestry of composer James S. Levine and music supervisor Mark Wike. Having risen through the instrumental fashion house of Hans Zimmer and his musicmakers with additional scoring on the likes of “The In Crowd,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Something’s Gotta Give,” Levine more than established his own label through dozens of disparately stylistic and wholly impressive TV-centric work for such shows as “Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “Bloodline” and “La Brea.” Wike began as a composer himself on the indies “Burn” and “My Dead Boyfriend” before finding his calling as a music supervisor, locating, licensing and helping to craft song-driven soundtracks for film and television with “Damages,” “Hung,” “The Greatest Showman” and “Animaniacs.”
Now both artist’s talents are once again united by “The New Look’s” creative force Todd A. Kessler. Taking his cue for a classically-attuned tapestry of strings, electronics and piano, Levine unites and contrasts two lonely geniuses – one filled with soul and driven by anguish and concern for his partisan sister Catherine (Maise Williams), and the other’s black-as-pitch duplicitousness that can’t hide her emptiness. Working as gauzy glamour, wartime suspense and the delicacy of creation, Levine’s gorgeous and emotionally affecting work also instrumentally and ingeniously sings with such standards as “Blue Skies,” “Smile” and “Almost Like Being in Love.” Leave it to Wike to find the voice of “The New Look,” at once reprising such iconic French songs as “La Vie en Rose” while putting them into new, hypnotic alternate dressings by the likes of Nick Cave, Bleachers and Florence + The Machine, all of which give “The New Look” contemporary, tuneful appeal. It’s the work of two respective musical brands at the top of their TV soundtrack fashion for a dramatically revealing series that’s anything but surface, a memorable sewing of drama and imagination that’s one memorably melodic size fits all in the best sense of the scoring and song phrase.
Composer James S. Levine
Tell us about your respective musical starts, and what led you to composing and soundtrack supervision?
JAMES: I grew up outside of Boston as a piano player- playing in bands, musical theater, jazz clubs, anywhere! I began writing and recording songs when I was a young teenager. While I loved being a player, I was always drawn to film music and when I heard film music being married with modern production and sounds, I dug deeper into that side of my writing, ultimately deciding to move to Los Angeles to pursue the dream of writing for picture.
Music Supervisor Mark Wike
MARK: I dropped out of Boston College in 1992 to pursue the rock n’ roll dream as a bass player with my band, The Bogmen. We soon got signed to Arista Records and toured through the 90’s. Later in that run, several of my NYC friends who were aspiring screenwriters, directors, and producers hired me to compose on their indie films. Composing gave birth to music supervision which I gravitated towards more naturally. Honestly, I found composing somewhat lonely and I enjoyed the creative and business aspect of music supervision. I was also motivated by a failed sync experience with The Bogmen. In the late 90’s. The Farrelly brothers placed our single “Suddenly” in a big scene in their comedy feature “Kingpin.” The song was getting traction across the country with radio ads and our music video was on MTV’s Alternative Nation. The film came out and the song was cut from the scene. It really effected our momentum. However, being a young band, we felt powerless. Having somewhat gotten to know the directors years later, we discovered that an entity representing us campaigned for too high a fee, so the song was replaced. Film & TV syncs can have a significant impact on a young artist and that experience taught me a tremendous amount. By 2003, the band had gone its separate ways, so I decided to move to LA with my then fiancée and commit to the music, film & tv career.
You began working “together” on such shows as “Damages,” “Instinct” and “Bloodline.” Did your work ever cross over then?
JAMES: Mark and I were introduced to each other in 2006 when I was scoring “Nip/Tuck.” Mark brought me onto “Damages” where I met Adam Kessler and we all instantly developed a creative friendship and felt a genuine collaborative spirit. The musical process with “Damages,” “Bloodline” and “The New Look” has been incredible. All of these shows were created by Adam Kessler, and he has always considered us an entity where the score is something on which we collaborate and work to find extremely original and unconventional ways to establish tone and support the narrative. Working together is always rewarding and we have developed a trust that allows us to try out some extremely brave musical ideas. On these shows specifically, our work really is always crossing over in the sense that all of the music whether it be original or licensed has a relationship that is thoughtfully considered in terms of it’s honesty, effect, and truthfulness to the story.
MARK: When I first moved to LA in 2004, our agent Brice Gaeta introduced us. I loved James’ score on FX’s “Nip/Tuck,” and knew I wanted to work with him. We also got along right away! Once I started working on “Damages” with Adam, I began temping with James’ score. James demo’d some key scenes of the pilot and Adam really responded to his approach and experimental sounds. Throughout the five seasons of “Damages,” James and I exchanged ideas regularly. We’ve became very comfortable discussing one another’s musical points of view. From there, James and I went on to work on “Bloodline,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Raising the Bar” and “Instinct.” James is one the most considerate, hard-working, and modest talents I’ve known in my 20+ year career.
When you got the assignment of “The New Look,” did you do research into the careers of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel? And if so, what were the things that surprised you?
JAMES: Yes! I began researching their respective evolutions as artists. I also had extensive conversations with Adam Kessler, our writer, creator, and executive produce, who was able to share a wealth of knowledge he had amassed while researching scripts. What surprised me most was Dior’s older age when he struck success relative to most other artists. Also, I gained a much greater appreciation for his innovation and desire to make beautiful clothing for all women regardless of their social or economic status. Chanel’s depravity with respect to her complex personal relationships was also shocking as that’s something most people are unaware of.
MARK: Being somewhat of a history buff, I was honestly more interested in researching the history of the period at first. WWII shaped history. I did deep dives into the music of Paris before, during and after War. I then went on to read, “Christian Dior Destiny” which helped fill in their stories, yet the real fascinating morsels came from conversations with Adam. He’d done voluminous research into Dior and Chanel and shared so many incredible stories- many of which centered around Chanel and her relationships with the Nazis and separately the Wertheimers, who were Chanel financiers.
Was there any direct crossover for you both here?
MARK: Adam and I had been having many conversations about potential approaches to score and song during the script stage. How could we do this differently? What about the influence of urban culture on fashion? The more we discussed the production design and story, the more we kept coming back to a more minimal score sound. At this point, I pulled score references and began speaking with James who then sent me a trove of his latest score work. James’ chamber recordings and subtle hybrid cues felt like the right wheelhouse. At the same time Adam and I had been exploring the concept of end title songs which had been an important bookend to our episodes on “Bloodline.” Adam suggested the concept of incorporating themes of a song into the episode’s score. This was going to be a big challenge on many levels. James and I had many conversations at this stage how he could go about this. How was he going to create themes for the series when each episode was to introduce a new theme? Before we knew it, production was underway, and the research phase quickly became “go” time!
James, how did you develop the approach and orchestration for the score? The uses of solo strings certainly cast a powerful, lonely spell over the show, as do the use of female voice a haunting one.
The solo strings and vocals speak to two elements in my mind. First, there is a purity in a single note, whether played or sung on a wonderful instrument. A simplicity with which every song or cue must begin. Much like the first piece of thread going through a needle that will ultimately create a larger piece of clothing. Second, the solo instruments as a starting point speak to loneliness and vulnerability. Dior, Catherine, and Coco were very lonely at times, and Dior was always vulnerable. He was vulnerable as an artist because of his family, because of his age, and because of the challenges he faced when Catherine was taken by the Nazis. I felt that starting with solo voice and strings that were intentionally recorded close and tight with little effect could draw viewers into how deeply personal and intimate this story is for our characters. It also felt like an original way to challenge myself with simplicity as a composer and to also reflect much of the solitude all artists live in when beginning an idea or project.
James, tell us about the main title, and how it strikingly sets the tone?
When we began work on the Main Title, I had developed a number of themes and the tone of the score. That worked in our favor in terms of instrumentation and color, but we really wanted the piece to stand on its own and speak to the breadth and intensity of our story; the horror and struggle of war, the pursuit of art and creation as a means of survival, and ultimately the beauty of Dior’s work and his unrelenting pursuit of hope. Adam, Mark, and I had a virtual jam session one day. I was playing on one end in my studio and recording everything I played while Adam and Mark were with me on Zoom. We referenced different elements of the story and instrumentation with the goal of creating something unique and striking that I would then be able to weave our Dior theme into. One of the show’s primary musical themes is a longer piece that we draw on throughout the series and I’ve arranged in various ways. This makes its way into the Main Theme in a much more overt, heroic and proud manner. During our jam session we came up with a number of new ideas or musical puzzle pieces that I was then able to arrange and orchestrate into what became the Main Theme.
James, given that the show is a contrast between the heroic and the villainous wartime activities of Dior and Chanel, did you want the underscore to differentiate between their characters’ morality – not to mention psychologies?
Yes, absolutely. While every character was trying to survive the horror of war, I constantly asked myself about the price of survival and the potential damage and or survivors guilt it may cause. I was always aware of this and strove to have the score reflect the characters’ inner struggles with their own fate and those around them. I purposefully tried to stay away from pushing unearned sympathy or pity, and also tried to let many of the darker and more horrific moments stand on their own without feeling the need to underline many moments that are extremely disturbing.
James, given that Dior and Channel never meet, was it important to have musical bonds between their characters as well?
While sonically there is a unified sound to our score, we specifically “assigned” certain elements of the score to either Dior or Chanel. Chanel and the sound of war often had similar instrumentation, sounds and motifs. We leaned on cello for Chanel, while solo voice and violin spoke to Dior and Catherine. Also, when working with our themes and sometimes the songs, we would specifically fragment melodic sections so you’ll only hear a sequence of melodic notes for a specific character or event for the entirety of an episode- generally until the final scenes where the melodic fragments would ultimately unify into a longer, more realized phrase. In many episodes an entire melodic phrase or idea will become recognizable as either one of our longer original themes or the melody of the song whose fully realized Jack Antonoff version would then play at the end of the episode.
James, I was certainly stunned by Chanel’s Nazi collaboration, something we’ve never seen before in a film about her. As appalling as she is, was it important for the music to create some kind of empathy for her even as many will likely simultaneously loath her? And if so, was that particularly difficult given that you’re Jewish?
I think everyone will be stunned by her unabashed sympathy for the Nazis. I never tried to create empathy for Coco because I’m not sure she ever had empathy for anyone other than herself. When we decided where to score Coco, my point of view would always be trying to lean into the discomfort I felt and I believe other viewers will feel. I wanted to keep it very honest and real. I never wanted to use a broad stroke “she is evil” approach, but more settle into music that would sow tension, disbelief, and the stomach churning feeling of watching someone and a group of people espouse hatred and murder toward other humans- whether it be in the context of Jews in the war or the Jews in Coco’s business ventures.
Given the state of the world right now, it is especially significant to work on a project like this given that I am Jewish. While I gained a much greater understanding of Chanel’s collaboration and antisemitism, this project felt bold and unafraid of confronting prejudices that have existed since the beginning of time. As someone who knows the broader history of antisemitism, I actually was inspired to be a part of this story and work since it confronts us all with important questions about art, life, morality, and survival.
James, would you say that the music paints Coco as an unlikely Mata Hari who can seduce just about everyone (even a Jewish partner after the war), let alone slither out of any kind of situation?
There were moments where we used music to shine a light on her duplicity particularly in episode 2 with the British ambassador, but generally the performances and material provided all of the necessary emphasis
James, the scoring is particularly impactful when it comes to The Resistance and Christian’s sister being sent to the camps. Would you say that an element of it is The Holocaust, let alone a war suspense score?
Thank you! Yes, The Holocaust and war are such a huge part of our show and I absolutely wanted to maintain a level of suspense and tension throughout the story as fashion really functions in the show as window into the world of an entire society and multitude of families struggling with the horrors of war. While Dior and Chanel are icons of fashion and culture, I feel the show successfully gives a more universal sense of the challenges faced during a terrifying occupation and vicious war. We never wanted the tension to let up as our characters longed for survival and hope.
Mark, having started out as a composer yourself, how do you think that skill has played into music supervision, particularly here?
Starting out as a composer gave me an understanding and language of music composition. There are times when a director or showrunner lacks that language and I’ve always felt comfortable supporting that dialogue. In this case, having known and worked with both Adam and James for years we have a shorthand. It’s a free exchange of ideas. It takes time to build this language and trust with a composer. This came in very handy during “The New Look.”
Mark, did you know what songs you wanted to go for in the course of the episodes? And what are the challenges when it comes to licensing older songs – particularly classic French pop tunes here?
I compiled a large catalog of songs based on country, decade, style, mood, and budget before production. I also compiled lots of music that could be live music in various environments because there simply weren’t gramophones in every bar, restaurant, hotel, or apartment. I sensed many songs from the 20’s-40’s would present licensing challenges, so I reached out to many licensors who specialized in what I was looking for. The songs also needed to be accurate to the specific year of the story. Many songs from this period were recorded by several artists over decades. Researching release dates was a challenge because not all sources lined up and sometimes the best source was to find an image of the original vinyl pressing.
Another very surprising challenge was that Aryan laws restricted most popular musical styles during the War so how, what and where music could play had to be considered. In regards to the classic French pop songs, some were relatively easy to clear while others had never been licensed before, so I had to put on my private investigator cap and turn over every stone. Some of the estates weren’t clear on approval powers. There were several nail biter clearances! All of the French songs also required translations so if they weren’t available online, I drew from my rusty French language skills! Finally, the greatest challenge was clearing the end title songs and the interpolations in the episodes score. From speaking with licensors, this had never been done before. Fortunately, the licensors were so helpful and enthusiastic to get to the finish line. In the script stage, we didn’t think we would have many licensed songs. However (typical!) that quickly changed as the shows took shape.
Singer Oliva Ruiz
Mark, tell us about supervising the on-screen musical numbers in the show, particularly when it came to Edith Piaf?
There were several small on-cameras however two were significant. I was able to draw from work I’d done on “The Greatest Showman” and “Animaniacs” to see these ones through. I had to find an Edith who could sing and act. Possibly a recognizable musician. A Parisienne friend turned me onto the French musician/actress Oliva Ruiz and Adam loved her. She was a chameleon so with some hair and makeup she looked the part and her voice was just so good. We recorded some simple piano/vocal demos to get the songs in the right zone and then arranged a proper pre-record in a studio in Paris. I Skyped into the session and gave Olivia direction based on talks I’d had with Adam. After a couple rounds of notes, we had the tracks. Unfortunately, Covid ran rampant on the set that summer, so I opted not to fly in for the shoot but was in close contact with Olivia, the director, and our awesome sound supervisor on the day of. The only somewhat anxious moment was at the last minute the director wanted Olivia to perform “Tu Es Partout” acapella on camera with no playback. Fortunately, Olivia was a pro and killed it.
The other significant on camera was the swing band at the Nazi ball in the end of episode 1. Aryan laws would have prevented a swing band from performing during this time, but the Nazis created their own work around by forming their own “state” band, Charlie and His Orchestra. The band played popular songs from the time but changed the lyrics to contain Aryan messages. We decided the live band would have likely been Charlie and his Orchestra seeing the ball was full of Nazi brass. We pre-recorded an instrumental version of “St. Louis Blues” and cast a band to match the instruments from the track. However, in the final picture cut the band turned out to be mostly off-camera so we eventually swapped out the song to a livelier (and German) song. Other on cameras were primarily piano cues one of which we recorded on set. Honestly, we didn’t have the budget for live music in each episode so most of the time we implied there was live music off-camera through song choices and picture editing.
James, how was it bringing such tunes as “La Vie en Rose” and “Blue Skies” into your underscoring?
Working with tunes like this was a great opportunity to re-think and re-imagine standards as score in a way that was not traditional or expected. Adam and Mark had the great idea of incorporating some of these songs’ motifs and melodies into a number of cues but challenged me to fracture them and make them almost unrecognizable as songs. We experimented and ultimately wound up building cues using various sections of the melodies and sometimes inverting or re-harmonizing them in a way that would lay musical breadcrumbs throughout an episode- ultimately leading to a fully realized version of each song’s melody often in an original instrumental arrangement that paid off with one of Jack’s songs with vocals over the end credits. We strove to have the viewer become familiar enough with a sequence of notes that they could have an “Aha!” moment during the final scene of each show with respect to the score. Really it was quite fun because the process was extremely open. So, I got to dig in and spend a lot of time searching for subtle ways to re-imagine some of the most recognizable songs and standards in music history.
Mark, the episodes are often titled for the songs in the end credits. Could you tell me about the artists you put together for them, and how you wanted them to put their spins on often classic jazz-pop standards?
When considering the end title songs, we wanted them to represent the specific period and have a lyrical connection to the story whether metaphorical or literal. The song also needed to have a distinct melody that we could build into the score. Something that could evolve over the course of the episode into the final vocal number. From there Adam and I compiled a list of songs. Once we brought Jack on board to produce the end songs, we (Adam, Jack, Apple Music team, and I) created a wish list of artists. Some of which Jack had worked with before, others he hadn’t. Being Jack Antonoff, all artists are just a DM away 😉 We wanted a range of singers who would each bring their own imprint and style. Male, female, ethnicity, and people of color were all taken into consideration. Afterall, these songs were made famous by the greatest: Bing. Crosby, Ella, Frank, Billie, Dinah Washington, The Mills Brothers, and Vera Lynn to name a few. After some creative conversations with Jack, off he went. We had complete faith in him. In a couple cases, an artist fell through but Jack was so quick to find an amazing replacement. Simplicity, elegance, inspiring….and Jack more than delivered; he was brilliant.
Mark, I found the closing tune of episode 4’s “What a Difference” particularly impactful as its plays under the “doll” show that brings Haute Couture back after the occupation’s end. Did that stand out for you as well?”
I hate to compare episodes, but this one was outstanding to me in a few ways. Firstly, the story of all these designers working together towards a common good was beautiful and inspiring and I think has remained with the fashion community since. The French (Paris) had been demoralized for years and the “doll” show was such a delicate yet powerful display of heart and hope. Perfume Genius’s performance of “What A Difference A Day Makes” blew me away. Between Jack’s sensitive and intricately layered music and Perfume Genius’s immensely compelling vocal delivery, the song demanded more than the end titles! Adam wanted to try pulling up the start of the song over the doll show and our super-talented music editor, Nancy Allen was able to make this work seamlessly. I loved how the song & lyrics played over the ending. One of those magic music moments.
Mark, on that note, many “period” shows from dramas to fantasies use pop songs for their end credits, sometimes to jarringly anachronistic effect. Yet they all go smoothly here. When do you think that approach works, and when doesn’t it, and were you conscious of that?
Jack was very aware that we wanted to create a handoff from score to song towards the end of each episode. He had watched picture cuts that contained versions of James’ score, so he understood the palette. Earlier on in production, Jack created some instrumentals as potential score ideas. Those sounds found their way into his song production. They were simple, somewhat raw at times, evocative, and always with an element of surprise. Once we heard his first recording of “White Cliffs of Dover” with Florence Welch, we sensed this would more or less become our direction. Challenges did arise at times with matching keys of score and song or if the two didn’t link rhythmically but again James and Nancy found a way to smooth out the transitions so by the time you registered the song, it felt natural and fitting. Beebadoobee’s song was the only one that I was conscious of but the more I watched it the more I loved it. In the scene, Chanel is toying with her nemesis Pierre Wertheimer. For me, Beebadoobee’s sweet pop voice is Coco’s wink to the audience. Episode after episode, Jack would text Adam and me rough mix and time after time we were consistently blown away. What a treat.
In that respect James, the score literally fits the period while also making effectively dream-like and eerie use of electronics to convey memory and the “fantasy” aspect of fashion itself. How do you think your start with Hans Zimmer and his compatriots helped develop your own lush synth sound?
Apprenticing and working with Hans was invaluable in learning how to incorporate modern production, synths, and technology into my scores. I not only learned how to use the gear, but most importantly he and all of my friends from those days worked very hard to push the technology into a place where it becomes integral in the creation and sound of the music itself. Specifically, for “The New Look,” we never prescribed a specific sound for the show. As in all of my projects, I wanted to support the narrative and film making while also creating an emotional thread that felt organic, relevant, and personal to the story, characters, and viewers.
James, Dior’s theme very nicely bookends the series while being very present throughout it. How did you want to develop it in a way that shows him coming out of his shell creatively, yet remaining soft spoken?
It became very clear as the episodes were written and filmed that we would want a number of themes to use as “runners” throughout the series. Given the intensity of Dior’s story we felt this could be grounding and create a familiarity and slight comfort for all of us even in the most tragic scenes. As I was working on sounds and themes, I wrote what became Dior’s theme. It felt wonderful against picture immediately so much of our score emerged from that theme and I purposefully composed it in a modular way that was very adaptable to different styles, keys, modalities, and instrumentation. When it needs to be solo violin or woodwind it helps to focus our attention intimately on Dior and if it needed to be a broader sound for a set piece or large dramatic moment the theme lent itself to full orchestration. Luckily, the melody I stumbled on stands nicely on its own or with added colors!
To be fair, I’m not a fan of fashion. Yet I found “The New Look” to be completely gripping and quite moving. Do you think it was a conscious effort on all parties to reach beyond what could’ve been a flighty fashion show? And how do you think that comes across in the music?
MARK: It was intentional to portray the world beyond fashion. How could one not? The Nazis suffocated Paris (and Europe). Fashion was survival for the designers and how they went about it during the War reflected their true colors. The music is dynamic and deeply emotional. The score has darkness and hope. Despite their suffering and restrictions (the Aryan laws forbade playing of swing and all forms of jazz), the Parisiennes found ways to love their music. As Paris emerges from the occupation, the songs and diegetic music reflect this awakening.
(L to R – Mark Wike, star Ben Mendelsohn and James S. Levin at The New Look premiere (Photo by Jana Davidoff at Rhapsody PR)
There’s literally plenty of material left for more adventures of Dior and Chanel. Where do you think a potential sequel series and its music could go?
MARK: It’s funny because having adhered to very year-specific song release dates during the 30’s & 40’s, I became so engrossed in mono recordings. From around 1946 on, the production quality of songs changed noticeably as did the genres. Strings began to sound more lush, low end became more pronounced and vocals fuller and warmer. Also, the sheer volume of songs to draw from increased. Sooo, I’m very excited about the prospect of sequel series!
JAMES: Truly anywhere that art, music, and fashion have gone!
Watch “The New Look” on Apple +, with new episodes premiering Wednesday’s HERE
Visit James S. Levin’s Website HERE
Special thanks to Alix-Becq Weinstein and Jana Davidoff at Rhapsody PR