Part of music's power is that it can instantly take you back to an exact moment or experience, no matter how long ago it was. One Night knows this well and embraces it fully, using music impactfully across its six episodes.
Hat plays an old mixed CD that Tess made for her 20 years ago, its title “Day Dream” written in bubble letters and its label decorated youthfully with hand-drawn clouds and a rainbow. "Hattie" looks over photos from their teenage years, as Cindy Ryan’s "Love Hate Tattoo" plays, its title echoing the very kind of mark these memories have made on Hat, Tess, and Simone alike; Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle’s “Anhedonia” lends its eerie and haunting melody and lyrics to the show’s theme, acting first as foreshadowing to the characters’ struggles and eventually becoming acknowledgement the audience's own; each play of The Distiller's “Young Girl” brings Tess, Simone, and Hat straight back to their teenage-dom and that harrowing night, and by the end of the show's six episodes, the song carries us right along with them.
To honour the integral part music plays throughout the show, we asked everyone: What is a song, album, or artist that takes you back to One Night? Is there any music that you associate with your character, filming the show, or that time of your life in general?
You can find the playlist included at the bottom of the article. If you'd like to listen as you read, click HERE.
Here’s what everyone had to say:
LISA MATTHEWS
(Director, episodes 4-6)
Her pick(s): “Parliament of Owls” by Agnes Obel
Why?: Our music supervisor got me onto Agnes Obel who did that last track of the show. She's a Danish composer. She's amazing. Absolutely loved her work. Very early on we found the track called 'Parliament of Owls'. From then on everyone said that's the most amazing track. It’s perfect for the show.
EMILY BALLOU
(Creator, Showrunner)
Her Pick(s): “Softer, Softest” by Hole; “Kiss Off” by the Violent Femmes
Why?: I wanted “Softer, Softest,” the Hole song. I always wanted the Violent Femmes. I mean, I went to high school with Gordon Gano so that takes me back way beyond the filming. For me the Violent Femmes song [for the show] wasn't “Blister in the Sun”. Everyone was always like “It’s ‘Blister in the Sun!’” I was like, “It's not ‘Blister in the Sun!’'' (It was “Kiss Off”).
Augie March is a band that I dearly love from Australia. I loved Something for Kate. Both of those are in the show. There's a Bluebottle Kiss song in the show which you can't really hear. But these are all Australian bands of a similar time, they represent that era for me and speak probably only to a certain population in the world. I'm always very fond of anything Australian. In a way it worked out better not to have the Americans - the Violent Femmes or Hole. It kind of was more fitting.
KAT STEWART
(“Vicki”)
Her Pick(s): “Wide Open Road” by The Triffids
Why?: The first thing that's come into my mind is “Wide Open Road” by The Triffids. It's probably not even in the show! But that image of when we're driving over that beautiful coastline - that's Australia. What’s that song they sing and they dance to [in the show]? I can’t remember. Oh no, that's not much of an answer is it?
EMMA PAINE
(Director of Photography, episodes 4-6)
Her Pick(s): The Slow Rush by Tame Impala
Why?: It’s about an hour and a half from my place to the shooting locations down South. So every Monday and Friday, I'd have a little road trip. It’s a really beautiful road trip as well, ‘cause you come down a windy road and there’s a moment where you come around the corner and see the whole coastline. It's pretty magical. I had just picked up a copy of [The Slow Rush], a Tame Impala album. I'd listen to it every time I was going to work because it put me in a really good space, a good mood, and I'm definitely one of those people who does their best work if I'm calm and happy. I would play that album and then usually at some point by the time the album ended, Lisa (Matthews) would be calling me, so we’d just chat the rest of the way. We had the premiere in Thirroul a couple of months ago, and I did the same thing: put on the album, and Lisa called me at the same point, which is really funny. It's like this one certain stoplight, and I was like, “it's just your stoplight!” [laughs]
Something about Tame Impala is just very Sydney to me. Kind of sounds like home in a way.
BRIDGETTE ARMSTRONG
(“Young Simone”)
Her Pick(s): “Softer, Softest” by Hole
Why?: I'd go in my trailer and I'd get my costume on and have my hair and makeup done, and I'd put my music on. So I have a bunch of songs - it was all early 2000s. The one that sprang to mind, actually, is “Softer, Softest” by Hole, and that's because it was supposed to be the song that we were going to sing in the pub together. Every time I hear that now, I think about Simone. But to be honest, “Young Girls” is upbeat and fun and it had the right energy for the pub. So I think it was better anyway.
GEORGE MASON
(“Joey”)
His Pick(s): “April Sun in Cuba” by Dragon; “Lateralus” by Tool
Why?: I made a playlist called Joey Fucking Calley, but I can’t find it. I remember one song. It's pretty random, but it’s 'April Sun In Cuba'. There was something about it that just….I just remember cranking it.
Oh, and Tool’s “Lateralus”! I just really wanted some pump up songs sometimes.
BELLA RIDGWAY
(“Young Hat”)
Her Pick(s): “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star
Why?: For me, whenever I play a character I always have one song that I like to connect with the character. For instance, for Young Hat it was “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star. That would help me get into the early 2000s mindset, but I also just really connected with that song. Anything by Mazzy Star just really helped me step into that world of Young Hat.
The girls (Bridgette Armstrong, Mikaela Binns-Rourke) and myself created a big playlist for One Night with all music from the 2000s and the 90s - a lot of Courtney Love and Hole and Spider Bay.
DAVID HOWELL
(“Young Joey”)
His Pick(s): “This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers” by Augie March; “All The Small Things” by Blink-182
Why?: I was listening to a lot of Blink 182. I always try to listen to songs around the timeline [of my characters], so the 2000s and stuff. But the main song for me was that Augie March song, “This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers”. I had some Green Day. I had some Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Nickelback. But that Augie March song is the main one.
SHANE OSBORNE
(“Young Trevor”)
His Pick(s): “Faultline”, Frogstomp by Silverchair
Why?: There was one album – particularly one song out of that album, but the album as a whole – called, Frogstomp by Silverchair. There’s one song that is called “Faultline”. Out of all the songs in that album, that stuck out to me.
I felt approaching Trevor that I had to understand [him]. He’s like, what, 26 in 2002? I still listen to the same albums that I loved five years ago, so it's like, what's something he would have liked when he was 18 to 20 that would have stuck with him? That would have been ‘95 or ‘96, so I think Silverchair. They’re a big Australian band, grunge, and the themes and lyrics of that music would have gravitated Trevor towards it.
HARPER SIMON
(“Lily”)
Her Pick(s): “Cocain” by John Martyn; “Once I Was” by Tim Buckley; “Blister in the Sun” by the Violent Femmes
Why?: I'd say “Blister in the Sun” because that was the original red suit dance that me and Em did together. So instead of “Young Girls,” that's what it was.
The guy who plays Young Joey, David Howell, and the girl that was shadowing the third AD, Frances Collin - the three of us lived so close to each other and we'd hang out all the time. Whenever we'd be in his car - which was such a foreign experience for a little London girl, like, your friend driving a car to go and get ice cream. Like, what the hell? [laughs] He would always play this song, “Cocain” by John Martyn, so I just really associate that song with that time.
Also “Once I Was” by Tim Buckley. That's probably the song that I really associate with my personal journey at that time. The feeling of that song, the way it sounds is how I felt at the time when we were doing it, and it was a very introspective time for me: having to be a character, having to do this thing I'd never done before, finally being in the industry that I'd always wanted to be in since I can remember. This year has genuinely felt like the longest year of my life in the best way possible, and so that song kind of represents that.
AMANDA BROWN
(Composer)
Her Pick(s): The Wonder (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) by Matthew Herbert; Chernobyl: Music from the Original TV Series by Hildur Guðnadóttir
Why?: I listened to Matthew Herbert’s music from The Wonder initially for its other-worldly combination of instruments, and to Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score from Chernobyl to hear how she incorporated field recordings into her music. This is not a new concept, it’s something that has been around since the musique concrete experiments in Europe in the 1930’s, but it hasn’t been used so often in film music.
SHELDON WADE
(Hair & Make Up Designer)
His Pick(s): PJ Harvey
Why?: We played a lot of PJ Harvey. I think it was just something in her words that at the time, really related to where we were at when filming. I can’t nail down just one, but there were a number of her songs for us that really emulated the vibe of where we were at at the time.
CATHERINE MILLAR
(Director, episodes 1-3; set-up director)
Her Pick(s): “Love Hate Tattoo” by Cindy Ryan
Why?: I just love the song that is playing [in the show] when Hat is in the car at the end of episode two. To me, that is just such an amazing song. So beautiful. And we used all those wonderful female artists!
CHLOË DALLIMORE
(Intimacy Coordinator)
Her Pick(s): “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy; “Respect” by Aretha Franklin
Why?: At the end, that very final resolution with all those women coming together and the power of the sisterhood, in a way, made me think of Helen Reddy's “I Am Woman”. “Hear me roar, numbers too big to ignore”; that celebratory feeling of don't underestimate women. Especially 'cause that song [is from the] seventies.
And of course Aretha Franklin's “Respect.” I mean, someone's gotta have already said that one.
MIKAELA BINNS-RORKE:
(“Young Tess”)
Her Pick(s): “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon; “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne
Why?: I don't know if Bridget and Bella told you, but we specifically made character playlists before we started the show. We all have a little playlist, Simone and Hat. We've got a bunch of songs from the early 2000s, 90s, all of these different vibes and eras put together that made us excited and got us into character.
There’s two that stand out just because of the kind of memories attached to it. We'd have little dance parties in our trailers before we'd go on set, specifically before the pub scenes, just to get into it and have some fun together. One of them was “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon. I thought it just fit so well with Tess, Simone and not really Hat, but Hat as well - just jamming out, going for it, just not caring what anyone thinks, just loosening up. We’d hear it on the radio and would hear it come up randomly in a shop if we were going somewhere, like in a pub that we went to after filming, and every time we'd just do a little boogie and be excited. That was the one that was reoccurring for us, I think, the girls and I. We heard that one quite a bit.
Also “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne. It's ridiculous. I heard that and I was like, “Oh, that's going on my playlist instantly.” It's such a fun song, but there's also that cheeky little message behind it that Simone and Tess [would] sing to each other. Bridgette and I, we danced to that one quite a lot together. I have a little video of us dancing and just grooving together and, you know, hinting at a little relationship. Those two songs from that era were the ones that I kind of connected to Tess and the show. They were like the first two songs that came to mind when I was like, “I'll have a playlist. These are going on it.” It's a lot of songs and players, but those two were on repeat for a while because everyone kind of knows them. You just jam out to them, it's good vibes, you have so much fun.
TINA BURSILL:
(“Helen”)
Her Pick(s): “Good Vibrations" & "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys; "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & The Papas; "Ventura Highway" & "A Horse with No Name" by America.
Why?: I do playlists for shows that I'm in. So I can hear them to give me a bit of a vibe. I'm mad on music. I'm absolutely crazy about it. I was with all the runners, all the young girls that were the runners on our show, they were all playing me their stuff. Occasionally I'd throw in something and they'd go, "What's that?! Oh, I love that." Okay. Perfect. Oh, my mom would love that day to day. I loved it. I love the Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations," of course, with the landscape, the generation. To get in the zone for Helen, I'd listen to the "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys, Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'," and "Ventura Highway" and "A Horse with No Name" by America.
Words: Helena Emmanuel
You can watch One Night on Paramount+ UK & Ireland and Paramount+ Australia now.
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