The Umbrella Academy Season 1 Soundtrack – Jeff Russo Album Review

Track Listing

Russia 1989
Sudden Birth
Hazel and Cha Cha
The Umbrella Academy
Homecoming
Klaus
Hazel and Dolores
Goodbye Delores
The Day That Wasn’t
Vanya Locked Up
Vanya’s Orchestra
Vanya’s Orchestra II
Apocalypse
Dancing
Vanya

Composed by Jeff Russo, Netflix’s superhero flick The Umbrella Academy’s score was somewhat dwarfed by the eclectic selection of pop anthems dotted through the series. While the soundtrack as a whole is well worked into the 10 episodes, it’s the rock-violin influenced score that really ties everything together.

Beginning with the opening introduction to the series, Russia 1989, the score weaves light elements of stringed instruments together before the main theme, and one of the stand-out tracks here, The Umbrella Academy. This driven track rises up before falling into a slowed segment including a piano and light string elements that eventually build up a crescendo, finally slamming into an exciting violin solo. This song ultimately acts as the anchor for the entire soundtrack too, with everything following that dominated by stringed and wood instruments. 

There’s a good mixture of tones in here too, reinforcing the quirky feel to the series itself. The songs Klaus and Hazel and Dolores are a great example of this, adopting a more playful style with rising motifs that sound mischievous, complemented by the woodwind instruments. It’s a really nice way to break up the soundtrack too, as the back end of this focuses predominantly on Vanya, with a flurry of violin solos and epic tracks. This climaxes with the final song, Vanya, which strips back all the other instruments, applies a slight echo and reverb effect, and serenades us with a beautiful solo to close the album out.

Although slightly short in length, The Umbrella Academy’s soundtrack is well written and beautifully composed. While it’s perhaps unlikely to get the attention it deserves thanks to the pop tracks that run throughout the series, the dominating use of stringed and violin segments make it a great accompanying piece to one of 2019’s best new shows.