The soundtrack to Freevee series “High School,” based on the memoir by Canadian twin sister pop duo Tegan and Sara Quin better known as Tegan and Sara, is a coming-of-age drama filled with wall-to-wall ’90s needle drops.
Says showrunner, writer and director Clea DuVall: “A lot of the needle drops were in the writing of the script, and that became an important building block.”
In all, some 70 songs appear in the show, a task handled deftly by music supervisor Brienne Rose.
Rose and DuVall pick their favorites from the first season.
“Senseless Apprentice” by Nirvana
Rose: There were a lot of conversations early on and we thought, “OK, we’re going to go after it and let’s hope we get these.” We talked a lot about what the approach was going to be. I think what really helped us get in was the work is wonderful. So, we went out to the estate and said, we not only wanted to use the music but a lot of the music because it was so informative and important for the girls in their musical journey. Tegan and Sara put together a beautiful letter, that had photos of them in high school, and that was important for Nirvana, and we went into depth about how integral the sound had been.
“The Waitress” by Tori Amos
Rose: It was a special song because we were going into the mom’s world. It ended up being a lovely negotiation. As soon as we explained where she was coming from and she’s singing along in this scene. We had to have that one early and it’s this important piece, but it was easy to get.
DuVall: I love how this song starts that story. It has such wonderful energy to it. That’s also my favorite Tori Amos song, so it was fun to be able to use it.
“Last Day of Our Acquaintance” by Sinead O’Connor
Rose: That was another important one to clear early on. It doesn’t just close out that scene, it closes out the entire show, weaves everything together and builds the tension. It elevates everything. But it took a very long time [to clear] and we pushed on that. Ultimately, they came around and said yes. I felt like we could breathe after that.
DuVall: That song spoke to what everyone was going through. We thought about other songs but “Last Day of Our Acquaintance” encapsulated everything. No matter what happened at the end of the episode, no one would ever be the same.
“Souvlaki Space Station” by Slowdive
Rose: Slowdive were such a great ‘90s band and disappeared for 20 years, and came back with a great album. This plays in the first episode and it captures something isolating and disorienting about them going to a new school.
“Today” by Smashing Pumpkins
Rose: The third episode begins with Sara playing Smashing Pumpkins and just cuts to the song “Today.” I grew up with that song and it was a big part of my experience growing up.
