Tracks & Sync Of The Month: July

In collaboration with Universal Music Group, Amp.Amsterdam // The Sonic Branding Company will share a selection of recently released music each month. At the beginning of each month, we take a moment to look back at a number of sync-friendly songs that were recently synced or released. Sit back, relax and listen to (or watch) our sixth edition of Tracks of the Month!

Built for Whoever You Are | The 2023 Kia Soul
Song: skeletons
Artist: easy life
Start date: July 15th, 2022

Nowadays it’s more important than ever for a brand to be inclusive, keeping all societal (sub)groups, sexual preferences and genders in mind. With the slogan ‘Built for Whoever You Are’, car manufacturer Kia emphasizes its inclusivity, taking it to the next level with their slightly absurd & humorous commercial for the new Kia Soul: even skeletons are welcome! Why the heck not?

The soundtrack of this commercial is the appropriately titled song ‘skeletons’ by British alternative indie band easy life. The track is part of their debut album ‘life’s a beach’ and is seeing a renewed growth in popularity, since the commercial aired a few weeks ago.

Je Monster De Baas
Song: Stil Bij Mij
Artist: Bente
Start date: July 1st 2022

In the last few editions of this column, we discussed one sync and four tracks that might be interesting for future commercials and/or films/series. This month we’re mixing things up a bit, by discussing two syncs versus four “must hear” tracks. Besides the upbeat Kia commercial, a very different (local) campaign was launched with an incredibly important cause and a breathtaking soundtrack: ‘Stil Bij Mij’ (Dutch).

For this surreptitious campaign, initiated by the Vereniging Samenwerkende Gezondheidsfondsen, Amp.Amsterdam helped set up a partnership with an artist, in order to create a custom made song for the concept – which in this case was brought to life by Dutch rising star Bente. The goal is to create awareness and lift the stigma surrounding mental health among youngsters. The message is clear: don’t be embarrassed and TALK ABOUT IT! The entire campaign is in Dutch, but both the music and the visuals are sure to break the language barrier and touch the hearts of even non-Dutch speaking listeners.

Stromae – Mon Amour (with Camila Cabello)
Nobody could have missed Stromae’s recent comeback to the music scene. Although you might not have even noticed the Belgian artist was on a 6 year(!) spotlight hiatus prior to this. The popular tracks by this multi-talented artist are featured in films and series with a certain regularity, among which ‘Locke & Key’ and ‘The 100’. Additionally, his music is frequently heard in talent shows such as The Voice. Funnily enough, the music video accompanying his brand new single ‘Mon Amour (with Camila Cabello)’ creates yet another connection to television, being one big wink to popular reality dating shows such as ‘Love Island’. 

Keywords: Summer, tropical vibes, Latin

Polo & Pan – From a World To Another
Polo & Pan is the equivalent of any beach- or pool party. The gents of this French synth-pop duo are the uncrowned kings of summer house parties, which is not surprising once you’ve listened to their music: the tracks take you away to sultry summer nights with a breeze coming from the salty sea where the sun is setting, only to be followed by a long night of bare-foot dancing. Polo & Pan’s tracks aren’t only wanted at parties like these, they are very popular when it comes to syncs. ‘Sprinkle’ for example, was used in the 2015  Apple Watch TV advertisement and EA Games added their music in the latest FIFA game. However, the music supervisors of several series are probably the biggest Polo & Pan fans. And these aren’t the least: hit series such as ‘YOU’ and ‘Good Girls’ couldn’t ignore the catchy, tropical tracks of the duo.

Keywords: spacy, house, electronic

Hailee Steinfeld, Anderson .Paak – Coast
When it comes to syncs, these two artists together are like superpowers. Hailee Steinfeld’s vocal skills, who started her acting career at the age of 10, were discovered in the film Pitch Perfect 2’ (2015. Within no time Steinfeld was mentioned together with big names such as Shawn Mendes, Machine Gun Kelly, MNEK, Ales, and Julia Michaels. As a rising popstar with an acting career, the link for a soundtrack is easily made. In 2018, ‘Capital Letters’ was released as the soundtrack for the third part of the Fifty Shade trilogy. .Paak’s collaborations can’t be counted on one, not even two hands. From Christina Aguilera to Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar to Bruno Mars. It’s not surprising that Anderson .Paak is an attractive artist to sync. That’s exactly what Apple’s creative department must have thought. .Paak’s single “It’s Over”, was synced in their HomePod campaign, with FKA Twigs dancing on the track in the film. “It’s Over” was used again in the official playlist of the Forza Horizon 4 game. 2018 Seemed to be a successful year for both artists when it comes to syncs, so who knows what their new single ‘Coast’ has in store for them.

Keywords: uptempo, summer

Jack White – A Tip From You To Me
If there’s one artist who doesn’t need any introduction anymore, it’s Jack White, who wrote history as the frontman of The White Stripes. The baseline of’ Seven Nation Army’ with its iconic music video lives rent-free in everyone’s mind. It wouldn’t surprise you if this track has been synced in tons of ads, not to mention Samsung Galaxy, Beats, and several Games. 

However, the cherry on the cake of whatever artist must be to write the soundtrack of a James Bond movie. ‘Another Way To Die’ was the soundtrack of the 2008 Bond-movie Quantum of Solace, and features at least as iconic artist: R&B singer Alice Keys.

Keywords: blues, piano

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