EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has an exclusive track from composer Dave Porter’s third volume of music for AMC’s hit series, Better Call Saul, which tonight reaches its finale, after six seasons on the air. Porter’s Better Call Saul, Vol. 3, featuring music penned for the final season of the Breaking Bad prequel-spinoff, will be available everywhere via Milan Records tomorrow.
Dave Porter Courtesy of Thomas Mikusz The acclaimed series from creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould has for the most part flashed back to examine how fledgling attorney Slippin’ Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) became the amoral con man and criminal representative Saul Goodman of Breaking Bad fame, also flashing forward to his life on the run in Omaha, under the alias Gene Takovic. Better Call Saul‘s final season concludes the complicated journey and transformation of its compromised hero, tracking Jimmy, Saul and Gene, as well as Jimmy’s complex relationship with Kim (Rhea Seehorn), who is in the midst of her own existential crisis. Meanwhile, Mike (Jonathan Banks), Gus (Giancarlo Esposito), Nacho (Michael Mando) and Lalo (Tony Dalton) are locked into a game of cat and mouse with mortal stakes.
Porter came to Better Call Saul after scoring the entirety of Breaking Bad and its film offshoot El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, in what has been a longstanding creative partnership with Gilligan. The release of Porter’s third Better Call Saul volume follows the May release of Volume 2, which features music from Seasons 3-5.
“It has been the joy and distinct privilege of my professional career to have written all of the original music for the Breaking Bad universe, culminating in this final incredible season of Better Call Saul,” said the composer. “For the past 15 years, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have supported and encouraged me to take creative risks and push the boundaries of what it means to be a film/tv composer. From the craziest capers to the darkest terrors to the remarkable love between Jimmy and Kim, this final installment of my score represents some of our finest work, and without question some of the music that I’m the most proud of having created.”
Based in LA, Porter has also scored films like The Disaster Artist, as well as such series as The Blacklist and Preacher. He has twice been awarded ASCAP’s Composer’s Choice Award for Best Television Composer — at the inaugural event for the award in 2013, and once again in 2017. He was also bestowed the 2019 Citation Award by his alma mater Sarah Lawrence College for his creative achievements.
Produced by Sony Pictures Television, Better Call Saul‘s core cast up through Season 6 also included Patrick Fabian. The series was exec produced by Gould, Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Diane Mercer and Michael Morris.
Remarkably, Better Call Saul has notched 46 Emmy nominations to date without a win. But 2022 may mark its big breakthrough year. The show will contend in September in seven categories including Outstanding Drama Series. Listen to Porter’s Vol. 3 track, titled “Devil’s Dandruff,” by clicking above.
