"American Star" Soundtrack Lyrics

"American Star (Original Soundtrack)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Review

What happens when a hitman movie decides it would rather be a mood than a body count? American Star leans into that paradox. The film follows Wilson, an aging assassin who travels to Fuerteventura for what should be a straightforward final job, only to drift into an unexpected pause in his life when the target fails to appear. The soundtrack hangs over that pause like salt air: Remate’s score and a small cluster of carefully chosen songs turn hotel bars, car rides, and windswept beaches into emotional x-rays, revealing more about Wilson’s regrets than most dialogue ever could.

The music nudges the movie away from standard thriller territory. Instead of chase cues and bombast, the score gives us piano, guitar, strings, and pale synths that feel half ghost, half tide. When the film does reach for needle drops – a Julio Iglesias classic in a car, a Brook Benton slow dance, a ragged bar-band take on “The Final Countdown” – they arrive like flashes of someone else’s life intruding on Wilson’s solitude. The soundtrack becomes the bridge between a professional killer’s interior silence and the noisy, slightly tacky tourist world around him.

Stylistically it’s an odd but satisfying mix. The core is minimalist film score writing – piano and chamber strings signalling introspection and the weight of time. Add in vintage soul and R&B (Brook Benton’s ache), Spanish balladry (Julio Iglesias carrying the burden of “I forgot about living”), and gritty funk and reggae inflections from bands like Los Fulanos and Orange Grove. Each style marks a different emotional register: chamber textures for existential dread, retro soul for buried tenderness, Latin pop for nostalgia, and bar-band rock for the absurdity of a killer hiding among all-inclusive tourists. The blend feels deliberate rather than eclectic for its own sake.

How It Was Made

The original score for American Star is composed, performed, and produced by Spanish musician Remate, who has quietly built a career in atmospheric film and TV work. For this project he described the music as a “couch” – a place for the film’s sense of pause and midlife reckoning to sit. Before he even touches instruments, he tends to let ideas live in his head for weeks, then records in layers once the sound is fully formed, treating the score like a canvas rather than a collection of isolated cues.

Instrumentally, the soundtrack leans on a small toolkit that’s used with a lot of precision. Remate plays piano, mellotron, synthesizers, and guitar, supported by a chamber quartet of double bass, cello, violin, and viola da gamba. The score was recorded primarily at his own Estudio #520W, with additional sessions at Wild Honey’s Sunshine studio, then mixed by engineer Dany Richter at El Lado Izquierdo and finished at London’s Sound Mastering by Nick Robbins. The resulting album – American Star (Original Soundtrack), released digitally in October 2024 through Remate / La Cupula Music – runs just over 20 minutes but covers a surprising emotional range.

Director Gonzalo López-Gallego and Remate also build the soundtrack in tandem with the island’s natural sound. Reviews have pointed out how the constant wind, surf, and ambient noise almost become characters of their own, with the score slipping in and out of that sound bed rather than sitting on top of it. When the wind cuts out and the music takes over, the silence feels loaded; when the score thins out and all you hear is air and footsteps, Wilson’s isolation sharpens. It’s a classic slow-burn hitman film, but the way sound and music braid together makes it feel closer to a meditative character study than to a body-count thriller.

Tracks & Scenes

Below are the key on-screen songs and how they interact with the story. The official album is score-only, so these needle drops live exclusively in the film and its marketing rather than on the digital soundtrack release.

“Sling Shot” (Chip Wickham)

Where it plays:

Around eight minutes in, a young woman drops the needle on a record and “Sling Shot” spins up on her turntable. The sound of Wickham’s jazz-funk groove fills a small interior space while the camera observes quietly from a distance. It’s one of the first times the film lets us relax into everyday island life, away from Wilson’s point of view, and the track plays non-diegetically over the scene once it’s established that she’s put it on.

Why it matters:

The tune’s warm horns and loose rhythm suggest possibility rather than threat. For a movie about a man who lives by strict rules, it hints that the island runs on a more improvisational rhythm – something Wilson will have to adjust to if he’s going to survive this “vacation.”

“Hold On” (Los Fulanos)

Where it plays:

At roughly the eleven-minute mark, Wilson checks into his hotel. “Hold On” pulses through the lobby, functioning as source music that might be coming from speakers behind the front desk or a nearby bar. As he handles paperwork and offers the bare minimum of conversation, the groove keeps the space lively while his body language does everything it can to shrink away from attention.

Why it matters:

The song’s gritty funk and exhortations to “hold on” bring a wink of irony: the soundtrack is trying to pep-talk a man who has come here to end a life and possibly his own way of living. It reinforces the tension between the resort’s easygoing façade and the violence hiding in plain sight.

“The Final Countdown” (Cast)

Where it plays:

Around fourteen minutes in, Wilson unwinds in the hotel’s hot tub as a cover of “The Final Countdown” drifts in from nearby. The film then cuts to a duo performing the song live at the hotel bar – a slightly scruffy, very human rendition that feels miles away from the original’s stadium-rock bombast. The music is fully diegetic: we’re hearing what all the guests hear, and the camera treats the band almost as local scenery.

Why it matters:

In a lesser thriller, “The Final Countdown” would be on-the-nose. Here it plays like a dark joke told under the breath of the movie itself. We know Wilson is on his last job; he’s literally spending his downtime soaking while a band serenades him with a song about counting down to… something. The goofy arrangement keeps the moment from feeling heavy, but the implication is clear.

“Make My Day” (Shirley Davis & The Silverbacks)

Where it plays:

At roughly eighteen minutes, Wilson steps into the hotel bar and orders a scotch. “Make My Day” is already spinning, a slab of contemporary deep soul that cuts through the murmur of tourists and hotel staff. The track is diegetic, probably piped through the bar’s sound system, wrapping the scene in a swaggering horn section and Davis’s commanding vocal as the bartender pours his drink.

Why it matters:

This is Wilson in predator mode, but the song shifts the balance of power. “Make My Day” belongs to the voice on the speakers – a woman laying down terms – not to the gunman at the bar. It’s an early hint that the women he meets here, especially Gloria and Anne, will quietly upend his sense of control.

“Me Olvidé de Vivir” (Julio Iglesias)

Where it plays:

Close to the forty-nine-minute point, Gloria plays this Julio Iglesias classic while driving with Wilson. The song comes from the car stereo; Wilson, who doesn’t speak Spanish, asks what the title means. Gloria answers, “I forgot about living,” and the line just hangs in the air between them as the road and dunes slide by outside the windows.

Why it matters:

The translation lands like a confession, even though neither character spells it out. Wilson has spent decades “forgetting to live” in order to do his job; Gloria has clearly put parts of her own life on hold. The tender, slightly melancholic arrangement becomes a shared emotional language they can both understand, even across a linguistic gap.

“Easy Love” (Orange Grove)

Where it plays:

Around the fifty-one-minute mark, Wilson meets another hired gun by the hotel swimming pool at night. “Easy Love” rolls under the conversation, the laid-back reggae-pop groove clashing with the tension of two professionals sizing each other up. Water laps softly in the background; the music is diegetic, coming from somewhere on the pool deck as Wilson calmly informs the other assassin that he’s in charge and doesn’t need help.

Why it matters:

The song’s breezy title and feel underline how anything but “easy” this encounter is. It’s one of the sharpest examples of the film using a sunny, tourist-friendly soundtrack to mask very dark business. The contrast keeps the scene unnervingly relaxed right up until the subtext curdles.

“Til I Can’t Take It Anymore” (Brook Benton)

Where it plays:

At roughly one hour and six minutes, the film slips into something close to a bar-room dream. Anne and Gloria sway together to Brook Benton’s silky, resigned ballad, then Wilson joins the dance with Anne. The song plays from a speaker system, and the camera lingers on hands, faces, and small shifts in posture rather than dialogue. For a moment, everyone in the frame looks like they’re rehearsing a life where none of them are bound by contracts or past mistakes.

Why it matters:

It’s the most openly romantic cue in the movie, and it belongs to a man famous for singing about love that hurts. The lyrics about reaching an emotional breaking point echo Wilson’s arc without ever needing to spell it out. When the track fades, it feels like waking from a brief, impossible dream of domesticity.

Score cues: “Wilson & Gloria”, “Sea”, “Coda” (Remate)

Where they play:

The official album, American Star (Original Soundtrack), gathers thirteen short cues with titles that mirror key relationships and locations – “Wilson & Gloria”, “Wilson’s trip”, “Sea”, “American Star”, “Coda”, and others. The film weaves these motifs through Wilson’s quiet routines: long walks by the wreck, drives across the island, hushed conversations in the bar, and the final stretches of the story where decisions harden. Exact cue-to-minute mappings aren’t publicly documented, but the album’s flow closely tracks the movie’s progression from arrival to reckoning.

Why they matter:

These pieces are the connective tissue of American Star. Where the songs mark standout character beats, the score handles the in-between moments – stairwells, car parks, empty hotel corridors – and lets us feel how the island gets under Wilson’s skin. The mix of piano, guitar, strings, and vaporous synths gives the film its “limpid” tone; even when nothing happens on screen, something is shifting inside him.

Trailer music

Where it plays:

The various official trailers lean heavily on Remate’s score material, cutting it into more percussive, suspense-friendly edits with a few big swells for gunshots and confrontations. Unlike some thrillers, there’s no widely advertised “trailer song” – the marketing sticks close to the film’s own sonic identity.

Why it matters:

Using the actual score in trailers sets expectations correctly. Viewers who come in wanting wall-to-wall bangers will immediately feel the slower, more hypnotic pacing, while anyone intrigued by the island atmosphere and McShane’s presence gets exactly that in musical form.

Notes & Trivia

• The title American Star refers to a real shipwreck off the west coast of Fuerteventura, and the film’s score often treats that wreck and the island as equal “characters.”
• Leslie Felperin’s Guardian review singled out both Remate’s score and the “well-chosen soundtrack cuts,” which is rare praise for a film this low-key.
• The official soundtrack album arrived months after the movie’s theatrical run, in October 2024, when Remate and La Cupula Music released it digitally as a self-contained listening experience.
• “Wilson & Gloria” – one of the standout cues – was written by Remate playing piano and guitar at the same time, with the piano slightly anticipating the guitar to create a conversation between the two instruments.
• Dany Richter’s mixing and Nick Robbins’s mastering give this modest-budget thriller a surprisingly polished, audiophile-friendly soundstage, especially on headphones.
• Sound supervision by Stephan Griffiths and Andy Shelley ties the score to the island’s relentless wind and surf, so that when music steps forward, the absence of those natural noises hits almost as hard as any chord change.

Reception & Quotes

Critically, American Star landed in that interesting “generally favourable but divisive” zone. Some reviews loved the slow burn and the way the music and sound design turn empty spaces into drama; others found the pacing too languid for a story about an assassin. On aggregate sites the film sits in the mid-60s range, but the soundtrack elements get consistent praise even from skeptics.

Fans of Ian McShane and of quiet thrillers have already latched onto the soundtrack album. Because it is short and mostly under three minutes per cue, it has also found a second life as writing, reading, and late-night driving music, with listeners sharing it on Bandcamp and streaming platforms more as a minimalist concept record than just a film tie-in.

The score acts like a meditation couch, letting the film’s existential questions settle instead of forcing them into action beats. – summary of Set the Tape’s assessment

A lovely score by Remate, mixed with well-chosen soundtrack cuts, gives the film an unexpectedly limpid poignancy. – paraphrased from Leslie Felperin, The Guardian

An unusually intelligent and purposeful movie that doesn’t say much, but is full of feeling – the music leans into that restraint. – based on Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

Remate’s score deepens the contemplative tone, even as the script occasionally slips into more conventional territory. – condensed from FandomWire’s review

The soundtrack album is currently available digitally – Bandcamp (with high-resolution files), major streaming services, and download stores like Apple Music and iTunes. No physical vinyl or CD release has been formally announced at the time of writing, though the compact running time and strong artwork make it an obvious future candidate for a limited pressing.

Interesting Facts

• The licensed songs cover a wide map: UK-based funk and soul, Caribbean-flavoured reggae-pop, Spanish balladry, and classic American R&B – all inside one sleepy resort.
• Despite its very American-sounding title, the main cast and creative team are largely European; the “American” in the name points to the shipwreck, not the lead character.
• American Star was shot entirely on Fuerteventura, so when the score leans into wind and sand textures, it’s reflecting actual on-location sound rather than studio fakery.
• The film’s relatively low box-office take hasn’t stopped the soundtrack from circulating; for some listeners, the album was their first contact with the movie, not the other way around.
• Remate’s discography around 2024 includes several soundtracks, making American Star part of a run of tightly focused, concept-driven score albums rather than a one-off venture into film music.
• The hotel-bar “Final Countdown” cover is credited simply to “Cast,” which fits its slightly ramshackle charm and keeps the focus on the characters rather than a featured band.
• While there’s no dedicated “music supervisor” credit widely publicised, the song choices clearly align with the film’s emphasis on aging, regret, and second chances rather than obvious needle-drop clichés.

Technical Info

• Title: American Star (Original Soundtrack)
• Year: 2024 (album release; film released January–February 2024)
• Type: Original film score / soundtrack album for the feature film American Star
• Composers: Remate (music composed, performed, and produced)
• Core performers: Remate (piano, mellotron, synthesizers, guitar) with chamber quartet (double bass, cello, violin, viola da gamba)
• Sound / music team: Recording and mixing by Dany Richter (El Lado Izquierdo); mastering by Nick Robbins (Sound Mastering, London); overall sound supervision on the film by Stephan Griffiths and Andy Shelley.
• Music supervision: Not separately highlighted in major public credit listings; licensed songs appear as additional film music rather than part of the official OST album.
• Selected notable placements: “Me Olvidé de Vivir” (Julio Iglesias) in the car conversation about “forgetting to live”; “Til I Can’t Take It Anymore” (Brook Benton) underscoring the bar dance between Anne, Gloria, and Wilson; “Make My Day” and “Hold On” colouring Wilson’s early days at the hotel; “Easy Love” playing under the tense poolside encounter between two assassins.
• Release context: Film premiered in New York in January 2024, released in US theatres and digital on 26 January 2024 and in UK cinemas and digital platforms on 23 February 2024.
• Album release & label: Digital album released 25 October 2024 by Remate / La Cupula Music; distributed via Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms.
• Runtime & format: 13 tracks, approximately 23 minutes; available in standard streaming formats and 24-bit / 44.1 kHz download via Bandcamp.
• Production companies (film): Tamariska and Emu Films in association with Aquí y Allí Films and Cayuga Ficción.
• Distributors (film): IFC Films (United States), Vertigo Releasing (United Kingdom).
• Availability / chart notes: No significant mainstream chart placements reported; album functions more as an art-house score release with a growing niche audience.

Key Contributors

Questions & Answers

Is the American Star soundtrack mostly score or songs?

It is mostly Remate’s original score; the official album is entirely instrumental, while the licensed songs only appear in the film itself.

Where can I listen to the American Star (Original Soundtrack) album?

You can stream or buy it on Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify, and other major digital platforms under the title American Star (Original Soundtrack) by Remate.

Why are songs like “Til I Can’t Take It Anymore” or “Me Olvidé de Vivir” missing from the album?

The official OST focuses on the score. Those classics are licensed source cues in the movie, so they remain in their own catalogues rather than the film album.

Is the “Final Countdown” cover from the hotel bar available anywhere?

It’s credited to the cast and currently functions as an in-film performance only. There’s no separate commercial release for that specific version.

Do I need to have seen the film to enjoy the soundtrack?

No. The album plays well as a stand-alone, low-key modern classical record – though knowing the film adds extra resonance to cue titles and textures.

Sources: Wikipedia; Remate official site; Bandcamp album page; Apple Music listing; Soundtracki; The Guardian; RogerEbert.com; Metacritic; Latinolife; FandomWire; FirstShowing.net; IFC Films and Vertigo Releasing press materials.

November, 29th 2025