FEUD: CAPOTE VS. THE SWANS Soundtrack Out Now

Hollywood Records and FX announce the release of the original soundtrack to the FX eight-episode limited series, “FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans,” with the main title theme by fifteen-time Academy Award nominee, Emmy and six-time GRAMMY winning composer Thomas Newman and score by composer Julia Newman. The 28-track digital album is available today on digital platforms.

“I had no idea what to expect when I began creating the score for “FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans,” says Julia Newman. “I knew I would have to discover what it meant to define dramatic structure over an eight-episode series while establishing a sonic vocabulary flexible enough to vacillate between the glamour of New York high society and a totalizing loneliness, reality, and fevered fantasy. I sought to underline the heartbreak of broken friendships, the tumult of an alcoholic mind and the charismatic twinkle of Turman Capolte. This soundtrack represents some of my favorite moments from the score and hopefully encapsulates the wide tapestry of human experience explored in the series.”  

ABOUT FX's “FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans” 

Acclaimed writer Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) surrounded himself with a coterie of society's most elite women – rich, glamorous socialites who defined a bygone era of high society New York – whom he nicknamed “the swans.” Beautiful and distinguished, the group included grande dame Barbara “Babe” Paley (Naomi Watts), Slim Keith (Diane Lane), C.Z. Guest (Chloë Sevigny) and Lee Radziwill (Calista Flockhart).

Enchanted and captivated by these doyennes, Capote ingratiated himself into their lives, befriending them and becoming their confidante, only to ultimately betray them by writing a thinly veiled fictionalization of their lives, exposing their most intimate secrets. When an excerpt from the book, Answered Prayers, Capote's planned magnum opus, was published in Esquire, it effectively destroyed his relationship with his swans, banished him from the high society he so loved and sent him into a spiral of self-destruction from which he would ultimately never recover.  

The series also stars Demi Moore as Ann “Bang-Bang” Woodward, Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson, Treat Williams as Bill Paley, Joe Mantello as Jack Dunphy and Russell Tovey as John O'Shea.   Written for television by Jon Robin Baitz, FX's “FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans” was directed by Gus Van Sant, Max Winkler and Jennifer Lynch. The show is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Alexis Martin Woodall, Baitz, Van Sant, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Naomi Watts, Eric Kovtun and Scott Robertson. It is produced by 20th Television.  

FX's “FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans” is based on the bestselling book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era by Laurence Leamer.    

About Julia Newman

Julia Newman is a Los Angeles-based composer and songwriter with a long family history in entertainment. She is the daughter of composer Thomas Newman and one of only two female composers in the Newman dynasty.

After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts, she went on to receive her Master's degree from USC's prestigious Screen Scoring Program. Julia's harmonic and textural sensibilities, in combination with an innate understanding of what constitutes drama, set her sound apart making her both recognizable and culturally relevant. Julia has worked across a variety of media platforms. 

Her most recent project is FX's “FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans” in which she has composed the score to the entire eight-episode limited series with a Main Title Theme by Thomas Newman. The limited series premieres on January 31, 2024. Her other upcoming projects include “American Horror Stories” from Ryan Murphy Productions.   

About Thomas Newman

Thomas Newman is widely acclaimed as one of today's most prominent composers for film. He has composed music for more than 80 motion pictures and television series and has earned fifteen Academy Award nominations, one Emmy Award and six Grammy Awards. He is the youngest son of Alfred Newman (1900-1970), the longtime musical director of 20th Century Fox and the composer of scores for such films as Wuthering Heights, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Diary of Anne Frank and All About Eve. As a child, Thomas pursued basic music and piano studies.

However, it was not until after his father's death that the younger Newman, then age 14, felt charged with the desire to write. He later studied composition and orchestration at USC with Professor Frederick Lesemann and noted film composer David Raksin, and privately with composer George Tremblay.

He completed his academic work at Yale University, studying with Jacob Druckman, Bruce MacCombie and Robert Moore. Newman also gratefully acknowledges the early influence of another prominent musician, the legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, who served as a great mentor and champion.

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