Press Release

The Wheel Of Time: The First Turn Album Of Theme Music From The Amazon Original Series By Grammy®-Winning Composer Lorne Balfe. Available Now From Milan Records

THE WHEEL OF TIME: THE FIRST TURN
ALBUM OF THEME MUSIC FROM THE AMAZON ORIGINAL SERIES BY GRAMMY®-WINNING COMPOSER LORNE BALFE
AVAILABLE NOW FROM MILAN RECORDS

TODAY’S ALBUM WILL BE FOLLOWED BY THREE ADDITIONAL SOUNDTRACKS TO BE RELEASED ALONGSIDE THE SHOW’S FIRST SEASON

THE WORLD-BUILDING FANTASY SERIES FROM SONY PICTURES TELEVISION WILL PREMIERE NOVEMBER 19 ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO IN MORE THAN 240 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES WORLDWIDE

The Wheel of Time: The First Time Cover Art

Toronto, ON (Friday, November 12) – Milan Records today releases THE WHEEL OF TIME: THE FIRST TURN, an album of principal themes composed by LORNE BALFE for the upcoming Amazon Original Series. Available everywhere now, The Wheel of Time: The First Turn (Amazon Original Series Soundtrack) is a largely conceptual album that includes key themes written by Balfe for the characters, settings and ideas central to The Wheel of Time universe. The 14-track collection provides a foundation for the fantasy series’ rich soundscape, with much of Balfe’s final score cues developing as variations of these initial themes. The Wheel of Time: The First Turn album will be followed by three additional soundtrack albums to be released as separate volumes alongside the show’s first season, with the Volume 1 album set for release on Friday, November 19 in tandem with the show’s debut on Prime Video that same day in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Of the album, composer LORNE BALFE says, “The universe of The Wheel of Time is truly unique. Inspired by oral traditions in storytelling, each theme’s voices tell the story of the character, place, or idea in Old Tongue, a language unique to the universe of The Wheel of Time. The score to this series is a re-imagination of fantasy music, doing away with the genre’s reliance on large, traditional orchestras in favor of more modern colors while retaining the strong melodies and bold harmonies that fans can expect from such an epic. It was my honor collaborating with showrunner Rafe Judkins along with our 14th Street Music team and musicians to share The First Turn album with you.”

The album was initially introduced with the release of three vocal tracks, each of which features lyrics written and performed in Old Tongue, a language specific to the world of The Wheel of Time. Balfe has enlisted a group of talented vocalists to perform on the album, including singer-songwriter and frontman of chart-topping Britpop group Go West Peter Cox, who lends his vocals to five tracks on the album including single “Mashiara (Lost Love).”  Pop/folk singer-songwriter Abby Lyons provides vocals to nine of the tracks, including album lead single “Al’Naito (The Flame)” which she performs alongside Aisyah Zulkarnain, and “Caisen’shar (Old Blood)” performed with folk-Americana quartet Our Native Daughters.

In addition to the album’s digital release, The First Turn soundtrack will also be made available in both spatial audio and vinyl formats. Available later this month, the spatial audio version of The First Turn album gives listeners a completely immersive listening experience with 360-degree sound and enhanced clarity. Meanwhile the album’s vinyl edition is set to arrive in 2022. The score is produced by 14th Street Music, owned by Hans Zimmer, Steve Kofsky and Lorne Balfe.

ABOUT THE WHEEL OF TIME
The Wheel of Time is one of the most popular and enduring fantasy series of all time, with more than 90 million books sold. Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.

Based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy novels, The Wheel of Time was adapted for television by executive producer/showrunner Rafe Judkins. Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage of iwot productions, Mike Weber, Ted Field of Radar Pictures, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe, and Uta Briesewitz will also serve as executive producers, with Briesewitz set to direct the first two episodes. Rosamund Pike will serve as producer and Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson as consulting producers. The Wheel of Time is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television.

CONNECT WITH THE WHEEL OF TIME
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THE WHEEL OF TIME: THE FIRST TURN (AMAZON ORIGINAL SERIES SOUNDTRACK)
TRACKLISTING –
1.     Mashithamel (Young Love)
2.     Moiraine Sedai
3.     Ta’maral’ailen (Web of Destiny)
4.     Aes Sedai (Servants of All)
5.     Ost Ninto Shostya (On Your Knees)
6.     Mashiara (Lost Love)
7.     Al’Naito (The Flame)
8.     Al’Cair Sei (Goldeneyes)
9.     Caisen’shar (Old Blood)
10.  Aman Syndai (Dragon Reborn)
11.  Noriv al Zaffid (Two Halves of One Whole)
12.  Al’Dival (For the Light)
13.  Wab’shar (Bonded)
14.  Mordero’Sheen (Bringers of Death)

ABOUT LORNE BALFE
GRAMMY®-winning, and EMMY® & BAFTA®-nominated composer Lorne Balfe has created music in virtually all genres and for all visual media with projects ranging from major studio to independent films, tent pole video game franchises, beloved animated feature films, critically acclaimed television series, and documentary features.

Originally from Inverness, Scotland, Lorne’s love of music and writing music was evident from an early age. His childhood home had a residential recording studio where the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Inner Circle would record – the latter of which he serendipitously worked with for his score to Bad Boys for Life.

As early as eight years-old, Lorne began writing and selling his composed “jingles” for advertisements, and at the age of thirteen he auditioned to be a percussionist with the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra, becoming their youngest member, and traveled around Scotland with them professionally. It became clear to Lorne that he wanted to become a film composer and in his late teens he started writing letters to other composers in the hope of an opportunity. It was then he decided to move to the U.S., and soon his exceptional career took off.

Consistently receiving accolades for his musical compositions, he received critical acclaim for his score in the most successful film of the Mission Impossible franchise, Writer/Director Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission Impossible: Fallout (Paramount Pictures) and has been announced as the composer of Mission: Impossible 7 & 8.

Other notable credits include Black Widow (Disney/Marvel), Jungleland (Paramount), The Lego Batman Movie (Warner Bros), and the Oscar®-nominated film The Florida Project (A24).

In addition to his work with Christopher McQuarrie, Lorne has worked with many of the most prestigious directors in the industry including Christopher Nolan, Ron Howard, Michael Bay, Cate Shortland, Ang Lee, Christophe Waltz, Jerry Bruckheimer, Sean Baker, and Chris McKay. 

The Wheel Of Time: The First Turn Album Of Theme Music From The Amazon Original Series By Grammy®-Winning Composer Lorne Balfe. Available Now From Milan Records

CREDIT BENJAMIN EALOVEGA

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Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit https://lnk.to/sonysoundtracks.

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