The Reel Change grant is playing a crucial role in supporting the score for The Return, allowing for a musical process that values nuance, texture, and emotional depth. The funds will be used to compensate orchestral musicians, orchestration services, collaborating artists, and to cover the costs of audio mixing and post-production. This investment ensures that every element of the music is crafted with intention and care.

A central reason for allocating the funds this way is my belief in the richness that emerges when multiple musical voices come together. Each performer brings their own sonic “color” to the palette—tones, articulations, and subtle choices that no virtual instrument can replicate. These contributions aren’t just decorative; they shape the emotional DNA of the score. By involving musicians with diverse styles and expressive languages, the music gains complexity and authenticity that resonates with the layered storytelling of The Return.

Rather than aiming for a polished uniformity, this approach embraces variation and human unpredictability, mirroring the rugged, real-world qualities of the film’s landscape and subject. The resulting score isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a living, breathing part of the story, shaped by the distinct energy of every artist involved.

The score for The Return fuses Americana Folk, Cinematic Documentary Scoring, and Ambient music to create a sound that is both grounded and expansive. At the core of this musical language is the solo cello, performed in a raw, rugged manner that mirrors the weathered physicality of the land and the character’s internal terrain. It isn’t delicate or refined—it’s visceral, imperfect, and deeply connected to the dirt and dust of the story’s setting.

Supporting the cello is a rich sonic landscape made from a combination of traditional folk instruments—acoustic guitar, mandolin, and ambient textures crafted from analog synths, processed acoustics, and environmental field recordings. One of the key elements I’m bringing into this world is a custom-built noisebox, a hand-assembled percussion and texture instrument designed specifically for this score. It allows me to generate unstable, tactile rhythms and atonal layers that contribute to the score’s more abstract and dissonant moments.

This blend of structure and unpredictability gives the score an organic, shifting quality. It moves between narrative clarity and emotional ambiguity, grounding the audience in place while reflecting the surreal, often dreamlike progression of the film. Each instrument—and the way it’s played—is chosen to reflect not just the action, but the psychological and spiritual dimensions of The Return.

The score reflects the grandiosity of the American landscape where the story unfolds, the surreal nature of Fin’s journey, and the emotional impact of such a character’s existence. I focused on minimal motifs, evolving textures, and authentic performances that breathe life into the narrative. My goal was to translate the emotional and philosophical heart of the story into a sonic experience that lingers, capturing both the grounded reality and the dreamlike atmosphere at the core of The Return.

In composing the score for The Return, I drew from a diverse range of musical influences that shaped my approach to storytelling through sound. Eddie Vedder’s score for Into the Wild was a key inspiration, with its stripped-down, emotionally direct songs and profound connection to the American landscape. Philip Glass’ The Fog of War also influenced me deeply, using minimalism and repetition to convey both intellectual and emotional weight. Carlos Rafael Rivera’s Godless further informed my work, blending Western Americana sounds with haunting, introspective orchestration.

Though stylistically different, these scores share qualities of restraint, clarity, and emotional purpose—qualities I aimed to capture in The Return. They avoid melodrama in favor of subtlety, trusting the audience to engage emotionally without being guided overtly.

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Cosme Liccardo (born April 21, 1986, in Valencia, Venezuela) is a Miami-based composer, sound designer, and multi-instrumentalist with over a decade of experience scoring for television, film, and advertising. He began his career in 2003, running his own recording studio in Venezuela and earning a National Children’s Theater Award for Best Original Score in 2008. In 2011, he moved to Miami, graduated at the top of his class from SAE Institute’s Audio Technology program, and transitioned into audio post-production and music for media. Since then, his work has been featured on major networks including Bravo, Telemundo, Travel Channel, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Syfy, and National Geographic.

Liccardo blends analog and digital textures with layered instrumentation, balancing technical precision with creative expression. As a first-generation immigrant and versatile musician, he continues to craft immersive soundscapes and emotionally resonant scores for audiences around the world.