Music supervisors Manish Raval, Tom Wolfe, and Jonathan Leahy tapped major pop and country stars—plus fresh finds—to shape the emotional turns of “Nobody Wants This” Season 2. From Selena Gomez’s “In the Dark” launching the final episode after Episode 9’s low
A music pitch over Zoom might sound small—until it becomes a soundtrack that decides how a romance feels in your chest.
That’s how it started for music supervisors Manish Raval. Tom Wolfe. and Jonathan Leahy as they convened with “Nobody Wants This” creator Erin Foster to talk through ideas for Season 2. “It was like all of four minutes over Zoom that started with us saying. ‘We loved the music on Season 1. did you like it?’ Erin said. ‘Yeah.’ So. we just said. ‘Let’s do it again for Season 2. but maybe we can give you a little steroid boost: Let’s make a soundtrack!’” Foster’s Emmy-nominated comedy was ready for a bigger musical lift.
The hunt quickly turned into a full-on pop search for fresh songs that could heighten the hilariously stormy romance between Kristen Bell’s Joanne and Adam Brody’s Rabbi Noah. Raval, Wolfe, and Leahy reached out through their network of record labels, music managers, and other industry contacts. That work fed into Interscope Records’ “Nobody Wants This Season 2: The Soundtrack” album, built from songs featured in the series.
In Season 2’s final episode, the first jolt comes from Selena Gomez. “In the Dark” opens the episode as Joanna and Noah arrive at a sun-kissed rooftop party celebrating her sister’s upcoming nuptials. Raval ties the placement to the emotional whiplash of the season: “We knew our characters were coming out of the disastrous Episode 9 when they were probably at their lowest point. ” he told IndieWire. “We needed to start Episode 10 with something that would snap us out of that and flip the script of what Joanne and Noah are going through. so we used the energy of Selena’s song to propel the momentum.”.
That strategy—matching the exact emotional temperature—shows up across the season’s needle drops. Country star Chris Stapleton provides Episode 9’s sparse. acoustic guitar-driven “Heart Letting Go.” Kacey Musgraves brings a tougher edge with “If the World Burns Down. ” which underscores a tough love conversation with Joanne’s sister Morgan (Justine Lupe). Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” complements the dorky dance moves of Noah’s brother’s Sasha (Timoty Simons) as he twitches to her lyrics “You like my hair?. I bought it.”.
And then there are the discoveries that don’t arrive on a billboard. Cassandra Coleman sings the anthemic “Bite My Tongue.” Raval explained how she came into the picture: “A manager who’s a good friend of mine texted me right while we were trying to figure out our quintessential running-back-to-each-other’s-arms moment at the end of the season. He said. ‘Check out this new song that Cassandra made. ’ and immediately. it was like ‘This is the song we need for the moment in the show that I’m looking at right now!’”.
Behind the soundtrack sits the team’s long-running rhythm of relationships and collaboration. Raval, Wolfe, and Leahy worked on “Nobody Wants This” with Foster’s music manager husband Simon Tikhman. The trio built their approach over some four dozen TV shows and movies spanning titles including “Platonic. ” “This is Us. ” “Fruitvale Station. ” and “Green Book.”.
Raval and Wolfe have their own origin story in the business. Wolfe recalled. “Manish and I kind of fell into the job. actually. ” adding that they had friends directing films and leaned on them for musical advice. Raval. a former rock band drummer. teamed up 28 years ago with Wolfe. who used to manage L.A.’s arthouse Aero Theatre. Leahy completed the lineup around 2013. after he. Raval. and Wolfe music-supervised “Girls.” Leahy said. “Being essentially the musician friends of filmmakers is kind of how we all got into the business.”.
When the perfect song doesn’t exist in the exact form they need. the team sometimes helps create the version that will land on screen. The poignant track “Melodies” started as a demo sent to them by songwriter Savan Kotecha. who collaborated on the tune with Scottish crooner Lewis Capaldi. Raval described why it mattered for the story: “It was just the saddest. most heartbreaking song we’d ever heard. so we knew it had to go into the most heartbreaking moment of the season. ” referring to the switcheroo scene when Joanne thinks Noah’s going to say “Let’s give it another try” but instead breaks up with her.
Lewis Capaldi loved “Melodies,” but wanted the recording done with a new artist. The team asked Interscope which artist on its roster could nail it, and the label suggested Dermot Kennedy. The plan moved quickly: Kennedy flew to London and recorded the song. “Melodies” then became the heartbreak song for the episode—and, in Raval’s telling, for the season.
For all the careful choices, the team is deliberate about what the lyrics should do. Raval said, “We never need the lyric to say what’s happening in the scene. Everyone has eyes; they can see what’s happening. so we shy away from being too literal. unless maybe if it’s a joke song and we’re playing it for comedy.” He added that viewers can make connections even when the song wasn’t written with the scene in mind.
That same hands-on control shows up in how they request unreleased tracks. When A&R people. managers. and artists ask for guidance—whether it’s asking for a brief to write to or requesting a scene—Raval said the team keeps it open-ended: “A&R people. managers. artists. labels — they might ask. ‘Can you give us a brief to write to?. Can you give us the scene?’ And we steadfastly say ‘No.’ Just make a great song. and we’ll find a place for it.”.
Finding that place often means mix-and-match work inside Pro Tools. with all 10 episodes of the season visible to help test placements. Raval explained that flexibility is the point: “Everything’s in front of us. so when we get a piece of gold like ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’ from Teddy Swims. we can throw it into a scene from episode one. Then we’ll try it over here in episode three.” That cut ultimately played over the end credits of Episode 8.
The process involves options for producers and fast feedback loops. Raval said they create multiple versions and sometimes FaceTime producers, who might point out when a lyric lands oddly. The response is immediate—recut, re-present, and confirm: “We quickly recut it, show it again: Perfect. That’s kind of the task we took on with this show.”.
In total. Raval. Wolfe. and Leahy selected 70 songs for “Nobody Wants This. ” on top of the thousands of music cues they’ve curated over the years. Still, predictability doesn’t enter the equation. Leahy described their approach with a word he clearly loves: “Alchemy — that’s a word I love to use for what we do.” He said trading playlists is fun. but it doesn’t compare to the real test: listening while watching picture. “That’s when you know if it works or not.”.
By the time Season 2 wraps with Selena Gomez’s “In the Dark” turning the page on Episode 9’s devastation, you can feel the goal underneath every choice: not just adding songs to scenes, but steering emotion—episode by episode—like it’s part of the dialogue.
Nobody Wants This Season 2 soundtrack MISRYOUM Manish Raval Tom Wolfe Jonathan Leahy Erin Foster Kristen Bell Adam Brody Selena Gomez In the Dark Chris Stapleton Heart Letting Go Kacey Musgraves If the World Burns Down Ariana Grande 7 Rings Cassandra Coleman Bite My Tongue Dermot Kennedy Melodies Teddy Swims You’ve Got Another Thing Coming