Varèse Sarabande Records will release Hector and the Search for Happiness – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on November 10, 2014. The soundtrack features the original score composed by Juno Award-winning Canadian musicians Dan Mangan and Jesse Zubot.
"I did something I've wanted to do for a very long time and that is to have a singer-songwriter score a film," said writer/director Peter Chelsom. "I think these days they are as much, if not better, melody makers than a lot of composers. Because it's a fable, it needed a strong identity, a 'through line'. I wanted themes that became songs and songs that became themes, rather than the usual film score."
"Peter likes music that 'almost isn't there.' He used that term a lot. The kind of crucial but subtle treatment of music to film," explained Mangan. "He also likes music that keeps a film clipping along so it never feels slow. That seemed to be a lot of our work on [Hector and the Search for Happiness]—keeping it moving but giving credence to the important moments."
"Jesse and I worked a ton on the opening sequence, which called for the film's most epic bit of music," said Mangan. "By contrast, the Jude theme was a more subtle result of an assignment from Peter. He asked me to write a song for my newly born son, Jude. I'm very glad he asked me to do that."