Pluribus, the new AppleTV+ series from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan, just premiered its first two episodes on Friday. I will not get into spoiler territory as this very entertaining, thought provoking, scary and funny show is best experienced by going in as blind as possible, but the log line is that series star Rhea Seehorn (Kim Wexler on Better Call Saul) plays “the most miserable person on Earth” who “must save the world from happiness.” You can watch the trailer below, but my advice is just to watch the show.
The music on Pluribus is from two longtime Gilligan collaborators: composer Dave Porter and music supervisor Thomas Golubić. “Having collaborated with them now for nearly two decades, Dave Porter and Thomas Golubić continue to surprise and delight me,” Gilligan says. “Their artistry increases each year, as does their enthusiasm. I can’t imagine doing a show without them.”
“When we started talking about Pluribus, we knew it would have a global scope,” Gilligan continues,” “but how could we express that musically? Apple TV, God bless them, encouraged us to take bigger swings than we’d ever taken before. For the first time, Dave was able to have his compositions performed by a symphony orchestra and full choir. And Thomas was able to commission the creation of songs by artists all over the world. What a step up that is from only being able to license existing recordings! Apple and Sony’s generosity has been put to magnificent use. I couldn’t be more impressed by Dave’s and Thomas’ efforts this season. It may be their best work yet, and I’m excited for you to hear it.”
Porter adds, “I’ve been so fortunate to collaborate with Vince Gilligan on all of his incredible projects, but Pluribus is special in that it is the first time since the pilot of Breaking Bad that we’ve had the opportunity to create an entirely new world to explore. For me, this was an exciting chance to take all that we have learned working together down to the studs and create an entirely new musical landscape that is uniquely Pluribus.”
As Vince noted, Pluribus‘ soundtrack includes closing credits cover versions of songs by international artists. Says Golubić, “Creating international covers of recognizable pop songs was our idea for the closing of each episode of Pluribus. Once we explored the concepts in the series and saw a parallel to themes of revolution and enlightenment in the counter-culture anthems from the late 1960s and 1970s, music coordinator Olivia Schlichting and I reached out to some of our favorite non-English language artists and paired them with songs that resonated creatively. We are delighted with these very unique and inspired interpretations and are excited for our audience to discover them with each episode.”
The second episode of Pluribus features a cover of John Lennon’s “Nobody Told Me” by Turkish singer Murat Evgin as the closing credits song. Evgin says, “As a kid who had The Beatles posters on his walls in late ‘80s, I’d never have imagined that one day I’d sing a John Lennon song in Turkish and hear it in Vince Gilligan’s show thanks to Thomas Golubić. It was a big responsibility to translate the lyrics of my childhood hero into Turkish and joy to add ethnic instruments from my country to ‘Nobody Told Me.’ I guess life is really what happens to us while we’re busy making other plans, as John once said.”
Listen to Murat Evgin’s cover of “Nobody Told Me,” the airy main Pluribus theme, and the official show playlist, below.