Grammy winner Stephanie Economou just dropped the full soundtrack for HBO Max’s Lanterns, and it’s a wild mix of ’90s rock grit and cosmic sound design.
The composer pulled from Nirvana, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and Portishead to build the musical DNA for John Stewart, Hal Jordan, and the town of Rushville. She layered traditional guitars and drum kits with found sounds like glass bottles, scrap metal, and chains, then threw in synths to create what she calls a “tactile, dynamic sonic world.”
For the Green Lantern Corps and alien species, Economou went full experimental. Reversed violas, degraded strings, trombone mouthpiece sounds, and processed upright basses created the unsettling alien motifs. The Lanterns theme itself bends and shifts in ways that hint at something off about the Guardians.
The soundtrack also includes “Away From Home (Rushville’s Lament),” an original song featuring Ari Mason and Wayne Ingram. It’s meant to capture the resilience of the people caught in the cosmic chaos.
Economou made history in 2023 as the first-ever Grammy winner for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games. Now she’s bringing that same boldness to a major superhero series, proving indie-minded composers can reshape blockbuster sound.