007 First Light composers discuss soundtrack inspirations and modern goals

Modernizing without reinventing the franchise

According to Joe Henson and Alexis Smith, their goal was to gently push the franchise toward the present era. They aimed to avoid completely reinventing the series while keeping familiar elements fans love. Henson remarked that they can explore a vast collection of books, movies, and songs. Drawing upon those sources along with others outside the Bond universe, the duo found their inspiration.

Studying scores from past films

The composers tried not to look too much at previous Bond games during their development process. Rather, they viewed the movie collection to examine the ratings from another perspective since they understood they would complete the project independently. Smith enjoys the initial Ian Fleming books and took First Light as a reason to read them again daily while riding the train to his job. He also noted that a major strength of this franchise lies in its capacity to remain relevant and evolve.

Award nomination for original score

007 First Light's Flight soundtrack has been nominated for Best Original Video Game Score at the Ivors Composer Awards. The ceremony honoring these accolades will occur at Grosvenor House in London on November 17, 2026. The composers are sure they can follow their unique path since the music has explored numerous distinct paths already.