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007 First Light composers Joe Henson and Alexis Smith share how they tried to nudge the Bond franchise into “the modern day”
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The composers say they didn’t want to “reinvent” Bond and had a “huge” catalogue for inspiration
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They also rewatched the film series “to study the scores in a different light, now that we knew we’d be working on our own”
007 First Light composers Joe Henson and Alexis Smith have explained how they tried to modernize the Bond franchise while retaining its classic roots.
In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Henson and Smith discussed their inspirations for the game’s soundtrack and revealed that their primary goal was to push the franchise into a more contemporary direction while keeping the familiar elements fans love.
“Luckily there is a huge catalogue of music, film and novels to dive into, and we took inspiration from all of them, as well as other sources not in the Bond world,” Henson said. “Our mission we set ourselves was to give the franchise a gentle nudge into the modern day, without completely reinventing it. It was always going to sound like James Bond.”
Smith added that he loves the original Ian Fleming novels and used First Light “as an excuse to re-read them on the train into work each day.”
“But like we said before, one of the great things about this franchise is its ability to stay current and adapt,” he said. “So, the possibility of going some different places with the music was always there.”
While the pair’s catalogue of inspiration was “huge” and offered plenty of references, Henson confessed that they tried not to look too much at the previous Bond games, but “we took the time to watch the film series to study the scores in a different light, now that we knew we’d be working on our own.”
“So many great composers have added their voice to the franchise, from John Barry to Eric Serra, Michael Kamen to Hans Zimmer, and it is fascinating to hear how each one approaches the material,” the composer said.
Smith added, “That made it easier, actually. The fact that the music has gone in so many different directions already made us more confident to pursue our own.”
The Flight’s soundtrack for 007 First Light is nominated in the Best Original Video Game Score category at the Ivors Composer Awards, which are taking place at Grosvenor House in London on November 17, 2026.
