The King's Man (soundtrack)

The King's Man is the soundtrack to the 2021 film of the same name, composed by Matthew Margeson and Dominic Lewis. Matthew Margeson, who worked with Henry Jackman in the previous Kingsman films, composed the film score with Dominic Lewis. Hollywood Records released the soundtrack digitally on 22 December 2021.

The King's Man (Original Motion Picture Score)
Soundtrack album by Matthew Margeson and Dominic Lewis
Released	22 December 2021
Genre	Film score
Length	1:18:00
Label	Hollywood
Kingsman chronology
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) The King's Man (2021)
Matthew Margeson chronology
A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting (2020) The King's Man (2021) Alice's Wonderland Bakery (2022)
Dominic Lewis chronology
Jolt (2021) The King's Man (2021) Bullet Train (2022)

Development

Henry Jackman who scored the previous instalments in the Kingsman franchise was not involved in the prequel. Instead, Matthew Margeson, the co-composer returned as the recurring composer, joining with Dominic Lewis. While the predecessors had modern instruments which emphasized the nature of the spy genre, Lewis and Margeson however used an old-fashioned approach, consisting of classical and grandeur themes with traditional orchestra. He described The King's Man's score as an homage to the traditional film scores in the late-20th century, notably Lawrence of Arabia (1962).^[1]

Lewis and Margeson moved to London in January 2019, where a writing room was set up on the film's sets so that the composers could visit the sets and take insights from the scenes that were shot to compose the score, instead of working on the score during post-production. Afterwards, a separate suite for post-production were set up in Long Cross for recording and editing the film's music. Margeson simultaneously worked on Rocketman (2019) while also scoring this film.^[2]

Both Lewis and Margeson took 18–22 months on curating the film's score, in contrast to how the composers would individually work on 3–4 months for film scoring. Matthew Vaughn wanted to explore each avenue of the film's music which led the composers rewriting each cue to try different things. The delays caused by COVID-19 pandemic also helped the duo to experiment more on the film's music.^[1][2]

Release

The King's Man's score album was released by Hollywood Records on 22 December 2021, alongside the film.^[3][4]

The film features the original song "Measure of a Man" that is played during the end credits.^[5] The song was performed by FKA Twigs and Central Cee being the featuring artist and was released on 18 November 2021;^[6][7] it was however not featured in the soundtrack.^[5][8] An official music video for the song was released on 29 November.^[9][10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The King's Man"	4:16
2.	"The Promise"	3:35
3.	"Savile Row"	1:49
4.	"Oxfords, Not Rogues"	3:31
5.	"My Shepherd"	4:33
6.	"We Three Kings"	3:06
7.	"Cost of War"	3:26
8.	"The Lord's Vessel"	2:20
9.	"Network of Domestics"	4:28
10.	"Let Me Lick Your Wounds"	3:23
11.	"Dance on Your Graves[a]"	4:10
12.	"Cracking the Code"	3:06
13.	"We Shall Not Sleep"	3:39
14.	"Silent Knife"	4:26
15.	"Crying Conrad"	2:19
16.	"Lionheart"	1:55
17.	"Dulce et Decorum est"	4:57
18.	"Skydiving"	2:45
19.	"Goliath"	2:43
20.	"Out of the Shadows"	1:56
21.	"Crooked Blade"	2:14
22.	"Victoria Cross"	3:09
23.	"Knights of the Roundtable"	3:49
24.	"The New Flock"	2:26
Total length:		1:18:00

All music is composed by Matthew Margeson and Dominic Lewis

Reception

Music critic Jonathan Broxton called it as an "absolutely first-rate film score" further describing it as the "best score in the Kingsman series to date". He admitted that "the new themes that Margeson and Lewis wrote for the film are strong and memorable, and the way they arrange the themes to illustrate a wide range of emotions is impressive" which resulted in the score being the "unexpected, top-drawer surprise for the end of the year".^[11] Filmtracks.com wrote "Margeson and Lewis do not match the tight narrative arc and snazzy appeal of Jackman's coordination in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. A better combined presentation of final and unused music would be merited."^[12] Chris Bumbray of JoBlo.com called it "excellent" and the "best in the franchise so far, benefitting that thanks to the period setting".^[13]

Additional music

Songs not included in the soundtrack, but featured in the film include the following:^[14]

In promotional videos and trailers

• "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath (Official trailer 2)^[15]
• "Kalinka" by Ivan Larionov (Official red band trailer)^[16]
• "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC (Final trailer)
• "Rasputin" by Boney M. (Rasputin promo)

During the film

• "Measure of a Man" by Fka Twigs featuring Central Cee
• "The Nutcracker" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Notes

1. This track references Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

References

1. Ames, Jeff (8 January 2022). "The King's Man Interview: Composers Dominic Lewis and Matthew Margeson". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
2. (Episode 269) The King's Man Film Composer: Dominic Lewis (Podcast). Monday Morning Critic Podcast. 26 December 2021. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024 – via Apple Music.
3. "The King's Man Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter. 21 December 2021. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
4. Major, Michael. "THE KING'S MAN (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Out Today". BroadwayWorld.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
5. Blistein, Jon (19 November 2021). "FKA Twigs Embraces Her Inner Crooner on New Song With Central Cee "Measure of a Man"". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
6. "FKA twigs Releasing New Song "Measure of a Man" Next Week". Pitchfork. 11 November 2021. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
7. Mendez, Chris Malone. "FKA Twigs Releases 'Measure of a Man' From New 'Kingsman' Movie". Forbes. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
8. "FKA twigs shares clip of "Measure of a Man" single featuring Central Cee". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
9. Bastos, Margarida (29 November 2021). "'The King's Man': Music Video for 'Measure of a Man' Shows FKA twigs Wielding a Sword". Collider. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
10. Benjamin, Patrick (30 November 2021). "FKA twigs shares the new video for 'Measure of a Man'". Dazed. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
11. "THE KING'S MAN – Matthew Margeson and Dominic Lewis". Movie Music UK. 4 January 2022. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
12. "Filmtracks: The King's Man (Matthew Margeson/Dominic Lewis)". Filmtracks.com. 10 January 2022. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
13. Bumbray, Chris (22 December 2021). "The King's Man Review". JoBlo. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
14. "The King's Man 3 Soundtrack (2021)". SOUNDTRACKI. 11 January 2024. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
15. Elvy, Craig (30 September 2019). "What Is The King's Man Trailer Song?". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
16. Roth, Dany (26 August 2021). "What Is The Song In The King's Man Red Band Trailer?". Looper. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2024.