Bleep

Having crafted a multitude of electronic tunes adjacent to the dancefloor, while also developing a strengthening confidence in string-led fusions on 2019’s The World I’m Going To Hell For, Berlin-based producer Nathan Micay channels his inner cyberpunk with his score to BBC and HBO’s hit drama Industry.

Essentially a human story about high-flying graduates navigating the complexities of love, sex and status in the cut-throat world of investment banking, there’s little sci-fi to speak of in Industry, save for a vague, apocalyptic decaying of community; a complex atmosphere where friends and enemies blur and the collateral is costly. The show’s cold, grey interiors and the dubious, competition-led morals of its characters are neatly matched by Micay’s liberal turns of icy synth melodies and ghostly hints of electro menace, recalling Light In The Attic Records’ Kankyō Ongaku collection of commercial ambient works melancholically turned inward, lamenting a dystopian collapse as opposed to celebrating an optimistic future. Much like Daniel Lopatin's recent scores to Good Time and Uncut Gems, Micay demonstrates a deft ability to both bludgeon with sonic chaos and haunt with subtle and eerie underscores.

A striking mixture of terse strings and tense electronics — daubed with harrowing dialogue snippets from the show — Micay’s first soundtrack gig marks a milestone in his sonic evolution, easily matching his main output.