Jeff Russo explains how he tackled the hard job of scoring ‘Alien: Earth’ by weaving horror and action into a single, coherent sound—pulling inspiration from the first two films and even using tape-delay techniques to nod to the original.
Since 1979. the “Alien” franchise has been in a constant tug-of-war between genres—sci-fi horror on one end. and sci-fi action on the other. Following Ridley Scott’s first film and James Cameron’s 1986 sequel “Aliens” has been a daunting act by itself: those two movies aren’t just installments. they’re defining templates for what audiences expect.
“Alien: Earth” commits to doing the job that history made complicated. The project builds its story around cyborgs contending with Xenomorphs. and it leans into both horror and action at the same time. For series composer Jeff Russo. the question wasn’t whether those tones could coexist—it was how to make them feel like one score.
“That first movie was one of the great horror movies, and the second one is one of the great action movie, and we kind of needed to do both of those things,” Russo said during IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables.
Russo wasn’t speaking alone. The composer roundtable brought together creators from some of the biggest shows of the past year. including Brenton Vivian (“The Madison”). John Paesano (“The Boroughs”). Kris Bowers (“Spider-Noir”). Amanda Jones (“Murderbot”). and Mac Quayle (“Monster: The Ed Gein Story”). The conversation centered on how each composer shaped music to match what audiences see on screen.
When it came to “Alien: Earth,” Russo said his approach was built on directly drawing from both seminal “Alien” entries. He aimed to incorporate elements from the first two films so the score could pay homage to both sides of the franchise’s identity. In terms of overall orchestral texture. Russo explained that the sound is mostly indebted to the more traditional blockbuster feel of “Alien.”.
But he also reached back for something more specific. Russo described using tape delay—an audio effect that creates an “echo” in the score—as a way to honor the first film.
“There’s big percussion and this big orchestral sound. but we went with tape for tape delays which is what they used in that first movie. and giving a tip of the hat to that kind of stuff was really really important. ” Russo said. “That was how I was able to nod to that score. was the tape delay on the horns. which was a lot of fun. Once we found it, it was like ‘Oh yeah, there it is, that’s the thing, let’s do that!”.
Taken together, Russo’s description maps the balancing act at the heart of “Alien: Earth”: blockbuster orchestration shaped into something darker, with a signature technique—tape delay on the horns—used to keep one foot planted in the original film’s sound world.
IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables are now streaming on the PBS App.
Alien: Earth Jeff Russo Alien franchise IndieWire Craft Roundtables PBS App tape delay horror score action score Xenomorphs cyborgs