Ibiza Narcos (Miguel d’Oliveira)

Ibiza Narcos is a Sky documentary telling the stories of hippies, ravers, drug dealers and detectives spanning several decades from the 1960s to the 90s. The island has long been a party island and drugs have been intrinsically linked with it. As the years went by, the parties got harder and so did the drugs and dealers supplying them.

It’s hard to talk about Ibiza and not mention the huge impact it has had on the evolution of electronic dance music (EDM). However, the documentary doesn’t really delve into that side of the story. It does raise intrigue as to how composer Miguel d’Oliveira would handle the documentary’s original score.

London-based d’Oliveira is a familiar name in the world of documentaries, having scored several of them for the likes of Michael Palin, Louis Theroux and Joanna Lumley. Not to mention he’s the court composer for the romantic reality show First Dates, which is entering its 8th year.

The score for Ibiza Narcos relies predominantly on laid-back, Mediterranean and exotic instruments and styles. Guitars, bass, electric pianos, playful synths, and funky percussion evoke images of sunny beaches and blue skies. There are a lot funk and reggae influences, and occasionally the score moves a little towards EDM, but it’s always light and light-hearted. “If You Didn’t Die…” is probably the hardest hitting EDM-inspired tune here. D’Oliveira describes the brief as “quite a tall order. Create a varied colour palette of identities for the main characters and operations, while evoking the music from the period, and a strong influence of Balearic / Spanish music. Sometimes having to reference genres as far back as Psychedelia (“Mind Blowing” on the album).“

There are moments where I’m reminded of Daniel Pemberton (Oceans 8, The Bad Guys), a composer who’s produced some excellent funky and quirky scores. Sometimes I’m reminded of the raggea-infused music for the Caribbean-based comedy/murder-mystery Death in Paradise (largely scored by Magnus Fiennes); whilst other times (e.g. “Tripping Advisor”) I’m reminded of Trellis who wrote (or more likely: mashed and sampled) the music for Green Wing (an outrageous British comedy series from the early 2000s). And when the score for Ibiza Narcos turns up the electronica, there are memories of d’Oliveira’s own Michael Palin in North Korea, where the EDM influences were deliberately satirical.

The fun thing about d’Oliveira’s music is that he tends to play almost every instrument himself. If you follow him on social media, you’ll be familiar with his reels in which he plays anything from bass to saxophone and hurdy gurdy. Synth fans too will find lots of little nuggets to enjoy. A lot of experimentation, serendipity and fun seems to go in to his music and the results are playful and eclectic, the score for Ibiza Narcos being a great example. On this occasion, time- and budget constraints also played a role. “Had to do this on a shoestring budget and the time limit was out of this world“, the composer says. “Maybe because I had to play everything myself and use such a variation of techniques I felt pushed into a corner from where I could either use it a strength or as an excuse. The material I was getting from the director was so inspiring that thankfully it was straight into the first option.“

I struggle to identify a main theme as such, but then I wonder whether it needs one. The score seems occupied with evoking particular atmospheres and a sense of time. D’Oliveira clarifies: “The series features such a wild variety of characters that, when I picked the tracks for the album I very likely did not include any of the shorter cues that had variations of previous themes. For example there was one associated with their ingenuity and inventiveness when smuggling drugs (shows up on album as “Fathers of Invention”)“. This particular cue reminds me of a slowed-down version of “Golden Brown” by The Stranglers, a hit from 1981 about drugs and girls, so it seems rather fitting.

D’Oliveira praises the collaboration with the filmmakers and they in turn were so impressed with the music that D’Oliveira receives a credit on the front credits. This is a big deal in TV-land. Coincidentally I heard a bit of a podcast lately (The Rest is Entertainment from Richard Osman and Marine Hyde) in which they discuss the importance and the negotiations that take place to determine your place in the credits, be it front or end. Unless it’s alphabetical, there’s nothing coincidental about it and it’s a big deal. So, well done Miguel! Ibiza Narcos is available from all your usual digital music shops and streamers; and for forty minutes will make you feel like you’re on an Ibizan beach. 30 tracks, 40 min.

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Article by Pete Simons (c) Synchrotones 2024.
Special thanks to Miguel D’Oliveira.