A Sonic Reunion: Jónsi & Alex Somers Build a Fragile, Human Soundscape for Rental Family

Hollywood Records and Searchlight Pictures announce the release of the Rental Family (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), featuring a hauntingly intimate score by longtime collaborators Jónsi (Sigur Rós) and Alex Somers. Now available on all major digital streaming platforms, the soundtrack marks the duo’s first co-score in more than a decade—and a deeply affecting musical reunion.

For director Hikari’s quietly powerful new dramedy, Jónsi and Somers crafted an aural world built from deteriorating tape machines, detuned instruments, and the soft hiss of analog electronics. The result is a soundscape as fragile and heartfelt as the film itself, echoing themes of loneliness, reinvention, and the courage it takes to connect in a world that feels increasingly performative.

The partnership between Jónsi and Somers has always been rooted in experimentation and emotional depth—dating back to their acclaimed ambient masterpiece Riceboy Sleeps (2009) and continuing through their various collaborations in installations, sound-bath performances, and cross-disciplinary art. Their return to scoring together feels like a natural evolution of that creative bond, shaped by decades of shared language and intuition.

The film, set in modern-day Tokyo, follows an American actor played by Brendan Fraser, who finds unexpected purpose when he begins working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, professionally playing stand-in roles for strangers who need a son, a colleague, or a companion. As he steps deeper into these borrowed lives, the emotional distance he’s carried for years begins to dissolve. Genuine human bonds form, raising complex questions about identity, belonging, and the porous boundaries between performance and truth.

Reflecting on the score, Somers shares:

“Rental Family was Jónsi’s and my first co-score in years. Making music together was so instantly fruitful and collaborative and felt like coming home. We worked instinctually and the music flowed. Built around very old and fragile instruments, the score becomes an aural metaphor for a man on the margins of society, slowly finding connection. The collaborative relationship with our director Hikari was wonderful. She was excellent at giving us feedback and holding creative conversations about music and characters and the story arc. One memorable moment was asking Hikari to sing with us to create a 48-voice funeral choir for the big funeral scene that takes place in the movie. Here is our collection of music we made for Rental Family woven together into album form.” 

He adds that director Hikari was deeply involved in shaping the sonic character of the film, offering insight into emotion, arc, and subtext. One of the project’s most memorable moments came when Somers and Jónsi asked her to lend her voice to a striking 48-part “funeral choir” for one of the film’s most moving scenes, a collaboration that further deepened the score’s intimate relationship to the narrative.

The soundtrack reflects not just the story onscreen, but the distinct musical journeys of its composers. Jónsi, known worldwide for his ethereal work with Sigur Rós, groundbreaking vocal textures, and genre-defying solo projects, has established a career spanning film scores (Without Remorse, Aloha, We Bought a Zoo), art installations, and multisensory experiences through his creative collective Fischersund.

For Somers, whose path began with a four-track tape recorder at age 13, the score represents another chapter in an evolving body of work that bridges ambient minimalism, found-sound experimentation, and emotionally driven film composition. His work across projects like Captain Fantastic, Honey Boy, and Hale County This Morning, This Evening has earned recognition for its textured, human quality, something that aligns seamlessly with the world of Rental Family.

Together, their music for Rental Family feels handmade and deeply human, mirroring the film’s central message: that connection, however fragile, is worth reaching for.

RENTAL FAMILY (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) 

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