The Iron Codex Spotify Playlist
One year ago I brought you the Spotify playlist guide for my first Dark Arts novel, The Midnight Front. I’ve chosen to reprise that effort by putting together another Spotify playlist for the second book in the series, The Iron Codex.
Music is invaluable to me as a storyteller. It inspires me with new ideas, and when I’m working, movie soundtracks often help me maintain a consistent frame of mind and emotional state that’s suited to whatever I’m working on.
Once again, to give you a look into my brain’s creative relationship with music, and how it connects to the stories that I write, I have assembled this guide to The Iron Codex’s playlist. Not all chapters or scenes have specific tracks associated with them, but those that do, I’ve done my best to annotate accordingly.
As a quick review of the playlist will reveal, the biggest musical influences this time around were spy-movie soundtracks. Specifically, Kingsman: The Secret Service, by Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson; Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace by David Arnold; and Skyfall by Thomas Newman.
Also, a fun bit — at the end are two “bonus tracks.” Neither informed any particular scene, but they were instrumental to me in defining the “headspace” for two characters in particular: Cade, whose heartbroken, soul-shaken state is evoked by John Fullbright’s earnest “Until You Were Gone,” and Briet, whose need to earn some kind of redemption is expressed by Brandi Carlile’s hit “That Wasn’t Me.”
Nota Bene: Not all of the listed tracks are available for playback on Spotify, due to ever-changing licensing permissions, etc. Those of you who collect movie soundtracks might own one or more of these discs already. If you can compile your own local playlist based on this, all the better.
CHAPTER 1
Death Road
“Time to Get Out”
Quantum of Solace (David Arnold)
[ ALBUM NOT ON SPOTIFY – SAMPLE ON AMAZON.COM ]
CHAPTER 2
Briet’s Morning / Briet Enters the Silo
“To Become a Kingsman”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
CHAPTER 4
The Downing of BOAC Flight 781
“Shame We Had to Grow Up”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
CHAPTER 5
The Lotus Villa
“The End of an Aston Martin”
Casino Royale (David Arnold)
CHAPTER 7
Dreaming of Dresden
“Mobilise for Russia”
X-Men: First Class (Henry Jackman)
Dragan and the Senator
“Not That Sort of Bank”
X-Men: First Class (Henry Jackman)
The Bohemian Cavern
“Whispering”
Miles Davis, The Classic Prestige Sessions, 1951–56
CHAPTER 8
Ambush of Anja / Cade’s Rescue
“Skydiving”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
CHAPTER 9
White Magick
“The Map Room: Dawn”
Raiders of the Lost Ark (John Williams)
Briet’s Secret Ritual
“Have You Ever Killed Someone?”
Quantum of Solace (David Arnold)
[ ALBUM NOT ON SPOTIFY – SAMPLE ON AMAZON.COM ]
CHAPTER 10
On the Train to Roma
“Coup d’Etat”
X-Men: First Class (Henry Jackman)
CHAPTER 11
Cade & Miles Steal a Car
“Papa Loves Mambo”
Perry Como, Pure Gold
Anja in Bombay
“Grand Bazaar, Istanbul”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
CHAPTER 12
Train Fight: Anja vs. KGB
“Stairwell Fight”
Casino Royale (David Arnold)
CHAPTER 14
Cade and Miles in Hollywood
“Rags to Riches”
Tony Bennett, The Columbia Singles, Vol. 2
CHAPTER 15
Anja’s Escape
“An 1815 Napoleonic Brandy”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
Luis Sees Anja
“Adrenaline”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
CHAPTER 17
Luis Defends Himself
“Welcome to Scotland”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
CHAPTER 20
Briet Liberates Cade and Miles
“The Bloody Shot”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
CHAPTER 21
Anja Arrives at Key Gompa
“Skyfall”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
Luis Reaches Key Gompa
“Mother”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
CHAPTER 22
Miles Breaks into the Lab
“The Heist”
Mission: Impossible (Danny Elfman)
Barging in on Krueger / Demons Attack / Death of Trixim
“The Switch”
Casino Royale (David Arnold)
CHAPTER 23
Anja’s Nightmare
“Avengers: Age of Ultron Title”
Avengers: Age of Ultron (Brian Tyler)
CHAPTER 24
Funeral Pyre
“Vesper”
Casino Royale (David Arnold)
CHAPTER 26
Briet and the Vate Pythia
“To Beast or Not to Beast”
X-Men: First Class (Henry Jackman)
CHAPTER 27
The Pool: Piotr’s Death
“She’s Mine”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
The Pool: Cade’s Sacrifice
“Sacrifice”
Avengers: Age of Ultron (Brian Tyler)
The Pool: Yoking Angels
“Keys to the Past”
Avengers: Age of Ultron (Brian Tyler)
CHAPTER 29
Anja’s Great Experiment
“Sub Lift”
X-Men: First Class (Henry Jackman)
Anja Confides in Cade
“I Never Left”
Quantum of Solace (David Arnold)
[ ALBUM NOT ON SPOTIFY – SAMPLE ON AMAZON.COM ]
Luis Flees Key Gompa
“Helicopter Chase”
The Fugitive (James Newton Howard)
[ ALBUM NOT ON SPOTIFY – SAMPLE ON AMAZON.COM ]
CHAPTER 33
The Secret Archives
“Original Valentine Ideas (Demo Suite)”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
[ DISC ONLY – TRACK NOT ON SPOTIFY ]
CHAPTER 34
The Pietà
“The Dead Don’t Care About Vengeance”
Quantum of Solace (David Arnold)
[ ALBUM NOT ON SPOTIFY – SAMPLE ON AMAZON.COM ]
Escaping the Vatican
“Deep Water”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
CHAPTER 36
War Plans
“Eat, Drink, and Paaaaarty”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
CHAPTER 37
Assault on Two Islands
“Calculated Infiltration”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
Into the Trap
“Out of Options”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
[ DISC ONLY – TRACK NOT ON SPOTIFY ]
CHAPTER 38
Allies Rally
“Hand on the Machine”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
CHAPTER 39
Final Battle / Detonation / Reunion
“Finale”
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson)
CHAPTER 40
Lincoln Memorial
“Voluntary Retirement”
Skyfall (Thomas Newman)
They’ll Kill Us All
“Horizon”
Children of Dune (Brian Tyler)
BONUS TRACKS: CHARACTER INSPIRATIONS
Cade
“Until You Were Gone”
John Fullbright, Songs
Briet
“That Wasn’t Me”
Brandi Carlile, Bear Creek
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