Magical musical musings care of the marvellous John Matthews.

It’s Christmas Day morning and I’m searching Spotify (I know, the defection to Qobuz feels imminent) for the usual festive playlists to get the family in a convivial mood. Suddenly an album in the new release section, whose sleeve art depicts the image of a hand holding a red table tennis bat, grabs my attention. Underneath the image the words ‘Marty Supreme’ immediately make me feel slightly deflated as the hype around the film has been incessant and quite irritating, but I then notice the music is scored by Daniel Lopatin and that, unconventionally, the album was released today. I’m intrigued so I save the files to my library and make a mental note to return to them. When I do, early in the New Year, I realise that the Marty Supreme soundtrack is the surprise Christmas present I most certainly wasn’t expecting. 

Lopatin is an experimental producer and composer who primarily records music under the moniker Oneohtrix Point Never. OPN released an album in November 2025 called Tranquilizer that I ended up nominating as my album of the year (see my “Lucky 7” feature) so I was immediately attracted to the the quick fire follow up even though it’s a film soundtrack released under Lopatin’s own name. Whilst the music of OPN can itself be reminiscent of 1980s film soundtracks, with added glitchy digital noise and vintage sci fi ambience, Marty Supreme sounds much more focused and widescreen. The music is futuristic, synth heavy and deliberately grandiose with neoclassical and new age elements offset against a retro `80s vibe. I listened to the album numerous times before watching  the film and it works really well as a concise, stand alone piece of work. I’d go as far as to say that, when first listening to the album, the soundtrack element felt almost irrelevant and the frantic energy, urgency and emotion conveyed by the music feels like an honest expression of the composer’s own feelings. Of course, it’s only after seeing the film that the genius of Lopatin’s music really starts to reveal itself and you realise the music works equally as well soundtracking a Japanese table tennis championship set in the 1950s. I find it extremely clever how Lopatin’s music acts as an anachronism in the context of the film.

My personal highlights include the beautiful ambience of The Call, which perfectly sets the tone of the album and Marty’s Dream which has a Trans Europe Express feel that’s interrupted by a grand piano and “vocals” that sound like an electronic barbershop quartet. It coveys a sense of wooziness and is dizzying in it’s scope. The Necklace features the wonderful sounds of a  fretless bass and wind chimes, whilst Seward Park is psychedelic and spiritual (and presumably features Laraaji who appears on the album). The prog rock of The Real Game introduces whirling synths, a thumping grand piano and saxophone, and then the gorgeous and uplifting Force Of Life is a memorable finale. 

Lopatin has not only produced my favourite record of 2025 but somehow managed to follow it up just weeks later with an album that already sounds to me like a contender for the best album of 2026 (technically the Marty Supreme soundtrack was released during the final week of 2025 but I’ll overlook that as I didn’t actually get a chance to listen to it until 2026). I’m massively looking forward to hearing what he comes up with next.

Note: The Marty Supreme soundtrack album is currently only available digitally but will be released on vinyl at the end of February. 

Oneohtrix Point Never plays live in London at the Barbican Theatre on 17th April 2026 as part of NTS Radio’s 15th anniversary celebrations.