How ‘The Shards’ Made Music the Star of the Show — SkimNews
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- Amanda Krieg Thomas served as music supervisor on Ryan Murphy's new FX series 'The Shards,' adapting Bret Easton Ellis's 2023 autofictional novel about a 1981 Los Angeles senior year that loosely mirrors Ellis's own youth and the writing of 'Less Than Zero.'
- Thomas inherited a roughly 200-song Spotify playlist of every artist and song mentioned in Ellis's book, and locked in must-use tracks including Ultravox's 'Vienna,' Al Stewart's 'Year of the Cat,' Lipps Inc.'s 'Funky Town,' and Flowers' 'Icehouse' — the last of which Ellis's text repeatedly uses as a Brett-and-Susan bonding song and was written into a pivotal scene.
- Thomas filled out the soundtrack with lesser-known acts like Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, Gleaming Spires, and Trout Fishing in America, noting that rarely-licensed artists are 'more excited' to land sync placements and that 'all these uses become so meaningful to them.'
- The show's score is handled by Morgan Kibby and David Klotz with synthy, ominous compositions, while the series also features new tracks from Troye Sivan; the cast includes Igby Rigney as teenage Bret Easton Ellis, Kaia Gerber as Susan Reynolds, and Homer Gere as Robert Mallory.
- Thomas reverse-engineered the period atmosphere of Hollywood's Hamburger Hamlet — a red-leather restaurant that closed in 2011 and where the show's characters gather — by interviewing former regulars to identify the Top 40 hits that would have played, ultimately landing on songs like the Go-Go's 'Our Lips Are Sealed' and Split Enz's 'Nobody Takes Me Seriously.'
Why it matters: Thomas's deep-cut discoveries — bands like Trout Fishing in America and Gleaming Spires — get rare, meaningful sync placements on a major prestige series, since she notes lesser-licensed artists are more excited to be featured and that 'all these uses become so meaningful to them,' turning a Murphy TV slot into tangible exposure for obscure acts.
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