Some cues get cheekily renamed, and this is one of them. Your classic epic fantasy battle cue, complete with thunderous percussion, snarling brass, and soaring string countermelodies. If while listening you feel compelled to lay siege to your neighbor who runs the lawnmower at 7am, I cannot be held responsible.

This week’s music selection comes from the recently released score album for the film Home Room. (I hope you admire my subtle and organic plugging technique.)

This is a moody piece accompanying a dissolve between two film’s two protagonists, played by Erika Christensen and Busy Philips respectively. The score is timed so that a melodic statement plays over each character’s closeup, highlighting the parallels between them.

I recently released a long-delayed soundtrack album to one of my early film scores, Home Room. The drama, starring Erika Christensen and Busy Philipps, explores the emotional aftermath of a school shooting.

This week’s music selection is the score’s melancholy main theme, an intimate chamber piece for piano, cello, and alto flute. It evokes the fragile feelings of two girls trying to reconstruct their lives in the wake of a tragedy.

This week’s music selection is a dramatic (in a family-friendly sort of way) orchestral cue from a project early in my career. The Penguin Who Wouldn’t Swim was an interactive story about… well, you can probably tell from the title. At this moment in the story, an aquaphobic penguin finds himself caught on an iceberg and menaced by a killer whale. The music takes a melodic approach towards capturing the conflict of the scene.

This week’s music selection concludes the score for the VR game Escaping Wonderland. Much of the score centers around a central melody, which represents significant memories for protagonist Molly. (Forgive my vagueness; I’m avoiding spoiler territory.) The theme recurs throughout the score, sometimes overtly and sometimes sneakily.

Once we reach the end credits we hear the melody in fullest form. I wrote a vocal song for the occasion, performed by the tremendously talented Phoebe Engelbert, who also voice acted for the game.

(If you like the tune, you can listen to the entire score at any of the usual streaming services.)