Apparat, real name Sascha Ring, continues his year of soundtrack releases with a short and sweet score for a German/Italian independent film Stay Still. The film was supposed to be released by now, but has been postponed because of COVID-19, but we get a sense of the film now with the score from Ring.
The soundtrack remains soft and mellow with soothing strings and pads helping to carry it as the songs get longer and more lush. Fans will be drawn out of their hypnotic daze with the middle track “Bad Kingdom – (Lulu's Version)” that sounds like a more acoustic and slowed down “Bad Kingdom” because it is – it is a cover of the massive Moderat track performed by actress Luisa-Céline Gaffron with some guitars for a different feel.
Those soaring, haunting, heavily reverbed guitars carry on into “Scissors” before ceding to ambient synths and pads on “Marlenes Birthday” and then one final hurrah on “Ant To End,” which sounds like a vintage Apparat record.
Directed by Elisa Mishto, Stay Still is a German-language film that chronicles the existence of Julie, a woman who appears to have no drive in life: no family, no job and seemingly no responsibilities. She is voluntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward where her guiding principle is to "stay still." While in the ward, she is introduced to Agnes, a highly motivated nurse who experiences a different type of dysfunctionality due to both internal and external pressures. The interaction between these two characters leads the viewer to see each in a different, and possibly unexpected, light.
You can feel her languish in the soundtrack before starting to develop into a new sense of self as competing personalities emerge.
Get your copy of the soundtrack here.
