Anyone familiar with the Showtime hit, “House of Lies,” knows the music used on the show is stellar and well placed.
Strange Cargo/Manhattan Records dropped a 12-track compilation featuring songs showcased on the series March 4. Grammy-nominated “American Beauty”, “Shrek 2” radio host at Los Angeles’ KCRW and music supervisor for the show, Chris Douridas, shared some insight on the project as well as highlighting some new artists on the album.
The show focuses on the main character, Marty Kaan, who is an immoral but driven management consultant, played by Don Cheadle. The supporting cast includes Kristen Bell of “Veronica Mars” and Ben Schwartz of “Parks and Recreation.” It follows the characters’ professional and personal lives in a way that only a premium-cable station, like Showtime, can.
As for the music, Douridas explains, “I’m happy to be part of a really great team and I’m grateful that we are able to make the music that we were able to present on the show.” Having worked on the series since its start, three seasons ago, he prides himself in finding the right selection of music to fit the dramatic needs of the show. He adds, “It is a quality piece of work and the pedigree is tremendously high.”
The soundtrack is diverse and has something for everyone’s taste. No two songs on the soundtrack are the same, yet mesh well together as a whole. “The idea was to give it enough variety to keep it multi-dimensional but still hold together pragmatically,” said Douridas.  This is not a campy dance mix of trendy music, it has a defined taste. It is introspective, soulful music; music for thought, which is needed for a dramatic series such as “House of Lies.”
Many of the songs were hand-picked by Douridas and are primarily new, up and coming artists that have been featured on the series as well as his radio show.  “That is a really big piece of my life, finding new artists and bringing them to an audience,” said Douridas. “It’s very exciting to me when we are able to introduce the kind of artists that are on the soundtrack to a wider audience, to a show like “House of Lies.”
When asked which artist he felt was the stand out of the project he replied, “Because I only bring to the show ideas that I love, I love them all.” But he does admit, “The Michael Kiwanuka at the end (track 12) ‘It All Comes Back Around’ particularly, is the most exciting to me because it’s the only song on the soundtrack that was written originally for the show.” Kiwanuka’s original song beautifully closes the album, which will also be closing the season three finale of the show in a “specifically devastating” scene that will air on April 6. “It is one of the highlights of my career so far as a music supervisor in 28 years.” He pointed out, “It’s incredibly integrated with the dramatic needs of this scene and the song itself is exquisite.”
Other favorites of the soundtrack are “Smoke Filled Lungs” by Basecamp and “Midnight Sun” by Isaac Delusion, who Douridas says he found accidently on Spotify. “Those are the two songs that people keep mentioning.” The opening song “Bright Lights” by Gary Clark Jr. was actually the end credit song of the show’s very first episode. There are also four songs that are exclusive to the soundtrack, two of which are artist debuts, “Brains Out” by singer Kim Cesarion and “Illusions of Time” by Kilo King and creativemaze.
The soundtrack is put together wonderfully and is a delightful mix of music. “I’m excited about introducing a lot of new artists to the album and the world,” said Douridas. “At the end of it, if you enjoyed the music, then you are turned on to somebody new.” Whether you are a fan of the show or are just interested in hearing new, exciting music, consider checking out this soundtrack.
For full track listings or to find out more infomation about the “House of Lies” soundtrack, visit smarturl.it/HOLAMAZON and/or smarturl.it/HOLItunes.