Twisters hype has been inescapable for weeks now. We’ve seen endless footage of Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Glen Powell and his fancy little dog Brisket. Glen Powell and a beaming Tom Cruise. Glen Powell and some tornados. However, one surprise awaits once you’re actually in your seat: the face-meltingly good Twisters soundtrack.
Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung and set in Southern Oklahoma, wears its big, honking summer blockbuster credentials with pride: it’s about people trying to tame tornados, one of which may or may not be on fire. And, appropriately enough, it has a big, honking soundtrack to go along with it. Original songs by modern-country heavy-hitters like Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, Leon Bridges, Miranda Lambert, and Lainey Wilson provide the finishing touch that helps Twisters nail that ‘90s Golden Age of Blockbusters feel.
Per American Songwriter, it’s “the first blockbuster film to have a completely original country soundtrack since Urban Cowboy in 1980.” One of my favorites is one of the quieter and more surprising cuts: a ragtag cover of Richard & Linda Thompson’s “Wall of Death” by Wilderado, Ken Pomeroy, and James McAlister in a motel parking lot. (Another fun Twisters musical connection: TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe joins the ride as a scene-stealing storm chaser.)
Billboard reports that Universal worked directly with Atlantic Records to make this happen. After Chung selected a number of scenes for which he wanted music, the label “began soliciting selected artists to write specifically for their scene based on the visual and a very detailed brief, which included tempo, tone, and thematic suggestions.” At least one, if not more, of which definitely included the words, “Now picture Glen Powell driving a very big truck.”
Twisters is, of course, a sequel of the 1996 film Twister. While you could be forgiven for only remembering the CGI cow, it also had a pretty sick, distinctly of-its-time soundtrack: Alison Krauss, Steve Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all appear. Shania Twain, meanwhile, graces both the 1996 and the 2024 soundtracks.
The Twisters soundtrack is a throwback in another way. In the 90s, movie soundtracks were either cultural touchstones in a curated way (Pulp Fiction) or an opportunity for artists to specifically make and showcase new music (Judgment Night). In our era where the music algorithm rules all, it’s satisfyingly retro to have a movie soundtrack you know you want to play over and over again.