Sound & Colour

I have a confession… I started watching The Testaments, stopped, binged-watched all of The Handmaid’s Tale, and then finished The Testaments, and needless to say, I am obsessed. In a world where woman are stripped of their rights, we see powerful female characters prevail with a female-forward soundtrack to match.

Queue the playlist and let’s jump into it!

Second confession… I have not read Margaret Atwood’s book by the same name, but it is now on my summer reading list.

The Testaments takes place about five years after The Handmaid’s Tale finale. Starring the incredible rising star Chase Infiniti (you may recognize her from One Battle After Another), we dive into the world of Gilead from the perspective of the plums, a group of young women destined to be Commanders’ wives.

As I was watching The Testaments, I noticed how much the music choices reminded me of those in The Handmaid’s Tale. After some research, I found out that the two series use the same music supervisor, Brittany Whyte!

In both series, I find she uses nostalgic songs, typically about being a woman, to add an extra layer to the difficult circumstances faced by the characters.

I was excited to see that she chose to use another iconic Blondie song in The Testaments and felt that it was a beautiful homage to this scene in The Handmaid’s Tale, where a haunting version of Blondie’s Heart of Glass, remixed with Philip Glass, is used (I looooove Philip Glass and have added my favourite album of his to the Playlist page, check it out!).

Standout Music Moments

Episode 1, Precious Flowers – Dreams by The Cranberries – I associate this song heavily with rom-com moments in film and television where the main characters run into the sunset, happily ever after. So to see it used at the end of the first episode of The Testaments was a stark contrast. The song plays as Daisy, played by Lucy Halliday, goes to sleep with the reality that she is trapped in a dangerous Gilead.

Episode 2, Perfect Teeth – Chapel of Love by The Dixie Cups – Here is a perfect example of the use of a nostalgic song. A sweet, happy song about the excitement of marriage, used again to show the reality of these young women’s lives and purpose, to be submissive, obedient wives and mothers.

Episode 9, Marat Sade – Coming Back to Me by Leith Ross – Another contrasting song to scene moment. If you have not seen the show yet, I won’t spoil this episode for you, but the beautiful melody of this song paired with a character attacking another character is very powerful.

I am happy to report that The Testaments has been renewed for a second season! I am a big fan of this show and music supervisor Brittany Whyte, and cannot wait to see where the characters and music take us!

While I loved the song choices for the first season, I would like to feel the rebellion of the female characters through a few current pop music hits. Maybe Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo? Or a song by Wet Leg?

Regardless, I cannot wait to see what the next season of The Testaments creates!

Have you seen the first season of The Testaments? Did you love the music choices? Let me know in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this blog post, check out my other posts!

Featured photo credit HERE