"Trance" Soundtrack Lyrics

“Trance (Original Soundtrack)” – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Review

What does hypnosis sound like when it leaks into real life? Trance answers with Rick Smith’s oscillating score — sleek, pressurized, and forever slipping out from under you — stitched to a handful of sly needle-drops that bend mood into misdirection.

Danny Boyle’s art-heist psychothriller follows Simon (James McAvoy), Franck (Vincent Cassel), and Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) as memory, desire, and control blur. Smith (of Underworld) drives the inner weather: sub-bass swells, glassy arpeggios, and pounding, near-techno cues that surge and recede like suggestions planted in your head. Then the songs arrive as traps and tells — Art & Dotty Todd’s feather-light “Chanson d’Amour,” Kirsty McGee’s lullaby “Sandman,” M People’s giddy “Moving On Up” — each used with a wink or a shiver.

Genres & themes, in phases: electronic & techno pulses — compulsion and trance states; vintage pop — disarming charm that hides the knife; trip-hop/alt-pop cameos — sensual control; orchestral-tinged electronica — the film’s pulsing conscience. The album plays like therapy gone electric: suggestion, relapse, revelation.

How It Was Made

Boyle once again tapped long-time collaborator Rick Smith to compose, after their Olympics work rekindled the partnership. Smith built eleven original pieces and folded in a few curated tracks (Moby, UNKLE, M People, Art & Dotty Todd). Emeli Sandé co-wrote and sang “Here It Comes,” purpose-built to carry the finale and credits with a soulful, rising release. Boyle himself is hands-on with source cues — he’s spoken about personally selecting songs rather than relying on a traditional music-supervisor model.

The soundtrack album arrived in spring 2013 with regional label differences (UK/Europe via Universal Music Operations; US via Republic), and mixes were extended for a front-to-back, club-adjacent listening experience rather than a string of short film cues.

Tracks & Scenes

Confirmed placements with concise scene context (timestamps ≈ UK cut).

“Chanson d’Amour (Song of Love)” (Art & Dotty Todd)

Where it plays:

~0:39 — During a hypnotherapy visualization: Elizabeth guides Simon through a sunny, open-top-car fantasy. Non-diegetic drifting into a dreamlike diegesis.

Why it matters:

Saccharine innocence weaponized — a sugar coat on radical suggestion.

“Sandman” (Kirsty McGee)

Where it plays:

~0:54 — After an intimate encounter between Franck and Elizabeth. Non-diegetic lullaby over bodies and shifting allegiances; the camera lingers, the spell deepens.

Why it matters:

Bedtime song as control signal — tenderness that’s really leverage.

“The Day” (Moby)

Where it plays:

~1:00 — Elizabeth’s nude reveal with Simon; his fixation crystallizes. Non-diegetic, slow-burn vocal lines stretching the scene’s hypnosis/power dynamic.

Why it matters:

Blurs erotic charge with manipulation — desire as a clinical tool.

“Moving On Up (Master Edit)” (M People)

Where it plays:

~1:13 — A violent confrontation cross-cut: explosions of action while bright 90s pop masks the brutality. Non-diegetic banger used as misdirection.

Why it matters:

Classic Boyle irony — joyous chorus over shock, forcing cognitive dissonance.

“Here It Comes” (Emeli Sandé & Rick Smith)

Where it plays:

~1:32 → credits — As the car sinks and revelations land, Franck receives Elizabeth’s video. Song carries the end through the first credits cards.

Why it matters:

Emotional exhale after the spiral — a hymn to consequence and release.

“Hold My Hand” (UNKLE)

Where it plays:

Used in the film (see credits); sleek, nocturnal energy around transitional city beats. (Album inclusion; scene placement varies by cut.)

Why it matters:

Gives the London night a heartbeat between set-pieces.

Trailer cue note

The official trailers lean entirely on score textures and film audio; marketing foregrounds the heist hypnosis hook rather than a single pop needle-drop.

Notes & Trivia

• Rick Smith’s album sequencing extends cues for immersion — less “cue, cut, cue” and more continuous hypnosis.
• Emeli Sandé’s “Here It Comes” was written expressly to land the film’s final emotional beat.
• “Sandman” pre-dated the film by years; Boyle repurposes it as an eerie comfort signal.
• M People’s jubilant “Moving On Up” is used against type — a Boyle trademark since Trainspotting.
• UK/US label split: Universal Music Operations (territorial ops) and Republic Records (US) handled distribution/branding.

Reception & Quotes

Critics clocked how the music shapes the film’s delirium: it isn’t wallpaper — it’s a plot device.

“Fluid and kinetic and stylish… a treat to look at.” — The Atlantic

“Trippy, twisty, terrific.” — IndieWire

“Laced with a booming electronica score by Underworld’s Rick Smith.” — Slant Magazine

Availability: The album released late March/early April 2013; digital/CD widely available, with streamable editions collecting both Smith’s cues and the key songs.

Interesting Facts

• Boyle picks songs himself: he often forgoes a traditional supervisor, personally curating source cues.
• First full feature score: despite years of collaboration, this was Smith’s first complete film score credit with Boyle.
• Credit-sequence art: the opening credits deconstruct Goya’s “Witches in the Air,” mirrored by the score’s build/debuild logic.
• Album as club set: extended mixes make the OST play like a late-night set — appropriate for a film about altered states.
• UN-KLE thread: “Hold My Hand” weaves in a Bowie sample lineage in its writing credits, fitting the film’s museum-heist DNA.

Technical Info

• Title: Trance (Original Soundtrack)
• Year: 2013
• Type: Original score by Rick Smith with selected songs (Various Artists)
• Composer: Rick Smith (Underworld)
• Key placements: “Chanson d’Amour”; “Sandman”; “The Day”; “Moving On Up”; “Here It Comes”; “Hold My Hand”
• Release context: UK release March 25, 2013; US release April 2, 2013
• Label: Republic Records (US) — Universal Music Operations/UMC (regional ops)
• Album formats: Digital and CD; later streaming editions on major platforms
• Film basics: Dir. Danny Boyle; Cast: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassel; Runtime 101m

Questions & Answers

Who composed the score to Trance?

Rick Smith of Underworld — his first full feature score with Danny Boyle.

What song plays over the sinking-car finale and into the credits?

“Here It Comes” by Emeli Sandé & Rick Smith.

Where does “Chanson d’Amour” appear?

During a guided, open-top-car fantasy in one of Elizabeth’s hypnotherapy sessions (~39 minutes).

Is “Moving On Up” used ironically?

Yes — bright 90s pop rides over a violent sequence (~1:13), turning cheer into chills.

Was there a separate “Various Artists” album?

No separate VA disc — the official OST bundles Smith’s cues and the notable songs.

Key Contributors

Sources: Wikipedia (film & soundtrack); Film Music Reporter; Los Angeles Times (SXSW feature); The Atlantic; IndieWire; Slant Magazine; Discogs (release); Apple Music/Spotify listings; Soundtrakd (scene timings); Official Fox Searchlight trailer on YouTube; Kirsty McGee official site.

November, 29th 2025