Jóhann Jóhannson on his extra-terrestrial score for Arrival

The same composer for next year’s Blade Runner sequel.

Whilst Jóhann Jóhannsson and filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Blade Runner reboot has dominated the headlines, the composer-director duo also have a critically acclaimed sci-fi film hitting screens this week.

Arrival stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker as a group studying a mysterious spacecraft that lands on Earth just as the planet edges towards a new world war.

As he explains in the video above, Jóhannsson worked with several singers and vocal ensembles and combined both classical and avant-garde elements for the soundtrack. “I basically had carte blanche to experiment musically and sonically in creating this unique sound world,” Jóhannsson says. “Denis and I have developed a trust where we can work together in a very collaborative way.”

The film marks the third collaboration between Jóhannsson and Villeneuve following last year’s Sicario and 2013’s Prisoners.

The soundtrack to Arrival will be released this Friday (11 November) via Deutsche Grammophon, following the September release of Orphée, Jóhann’s debut album for the label.

Next month you can catch Jóhann performing with Britten Sinfonia Voices on 9 December at London’s Barbican.