Victor Moreno’s original film score, Ascend All Night, opens an unflinchingly scenic aural space; he takes a score- opulent in emotion, yet aligned with a sense of unease -past the usual remits of neo-classical into a disquieting sci-fi territory that slips away from gravity.
Thick with unsettling intrigue, akin to a dark corridor you ache to explore, Ascend All Night unravels a nyctophile’s sonic dream by painting a twilight canvas in an ocean of depth which rushes forward into the static of intercepted radio signals before moving past them into the depth of the unknown.
Celebrated for his refined compositions, Moreno has a background enriched by his time at the Swedish Center of Electroacoustic Music and Sound Art. His collaborations with figures like Oliver Ackermann and Wolfgang Tillmans, and his reuniting with sound engineer Rupert Clervaux—who has worked with Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized—bolstered the polished audial textures that define this score.
This evocative piece, central to the narrative of the short art film Ascend All Night, crescendos through a rapture of rich textures, blending piano, violins, synthesisers, and the irreplicable draw of Spanish acoustic guitar. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, or Thom Yorke, Moreno’s work has ensured that the short film is already making waves across the film festival circuit, promising a vivid journey for audiences everywhere.
Stream the original film score here.
Review by Amelia Vandergast