Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, the acclaimed composer of “White Lotus“s theme song, said he won’t be back for Season 4.
In an interview with the New York Times, Tapia de Veer, who was born in Chile and lives in Quebec, said they had different visions for the theme song that started in Season 1 and intensified in Season 3 which filmed in Thailand. De Veer’s eery theme song for the HBO show not only won the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2022, it also contributed to giving the show a darker vibe and unsettling atmosphere with strange sounds, including a recurring ‘ooh-loo-loo-loo’ chorus. But White wasn’t keen on it from the start, de Veer told The New York Times. The composer said White had in mind some “background music,” “a song that is more like something you would listen to in Ibiza, in some clubby place with a chill, sexy vibe. And there’s literally no edge to it.” Ultimately, in Season 3, White managed to turn the theme song into a more traditional lounge tune (sans the ‘ooh-loo-loo-loo’) which has divided fans of the show.
De Veer said he received some many complaints about the score, titled enlightenment, that he posted his uncut version of the song on YouTube. He’s compared his experience working on the show and his falling out with White to a “rock ’n’ roll band story.”
“I was like, OK, this is like a rock band I’ve been in before where the guitar player doesn’t understand the singer at all,” he said.
He also joked that their dysfunctional work relationship with White made him think of the cult 1978 French movie called “La Cage aux folles” starring Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazz.
“You know how there’s Albin, which is like the star, and there’s Renato, who is the producer who is always taking care that Albin doesn’t lose his mind about something, because Albin is the diva and Renato is the guy who is trying to make everything work,” said De Veer. “To me, the show felt very much like that.”
The eighth and final installment of “The White Lotus”‘s third Season will span nearly 90 minutes, according to the HBO schedule. “The White Lotus” Season 3 stars Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, Natasha Rothwell, Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong, Christian Friedel, Julian Kostov, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, Shalini Peiris, Carrie Coon, Scott Glenn, Francesca Corney, Nicholas Duvernay, Arnas Fedaravičius, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola and Blackpink member Lisa.
