No, Brian Eno Isn't Scoring 'At Night' - It's Elvin

A case of mistaken identity has been quietly corrected in the film world this week, as the upcoming feature At Night finally sets the record straight on who composed its haunting score. Contrary to a swirl of online speculation and some premature festival-programming chatter, the soundtrack is not the work of ambient pioneer Brian Eno. Instead, the sonic landscape belongs to Elvin Brandhi, a Welsh experimental musician whose work has been bubbling under the radar of mainstream cinema until now.

The confusion appears to have sprung from a simple name-association game gone wrong. Brandhi, whose first name is Elvin, was listed in early production notes as the film’s composer. Somewhere along the line, fingers pointed to Eno - a legend whose ambient catalog has graced everything from David Bowie records to museum installations - and the rumor took on a life of its own. By the time At Night’s first teasers surfaced, social media was already buzzing with “new Eno score” announcements, much to the bemused frustration of the actual artist.

Brandhi, for her part, has handled the mix-up with a mix of dry humor and mild exasperation. In a brief statement to press, she quipped that the flattering error had at least boosted her streaming numbers, though she was quick to clarify the facts. “I am not Brian Eno, and while I take that as a compliment of the highest order, I’d rather people hear the music for what it is,” she said. “The film’s director knew exactly what they were asking for - dark, fractured, and intimate - and that’s what we made. No need for an Eno to step in.”

At Night is a low-budget, atmospheric drama that reportedly leans heavily on mood and silence, with a narrative that unfolds in near darkness. Brandhi’s approach to the score reflects her broader practice, which often involves field recordings, distorted vocals, and a patient, almost uncomfortable use of empty space. Unlike a traditional orchestral cue, her tracks for the film are said to blur the line between music and texture, a quality that likely fueled the Eno comparison in the first place. Eno’s own work with generative systems and understated texture shares a spiritual kinship with Brandhi’s methods, though the sonic results diverge sharply in energy and grit.

The film’s director, who has stayed mostly out of the press cycle, did add a short note to the production’s website. “We never approached Brian Eno. Not once. Elvin was our first and only choice,” the note read. “Her music doesn’t decorate the film; it is the film’s internal pulse. The mix-up has been bizarre, but if anything, it’s shown how badly people want to categorize avant-garde sound as one thing. It’s not one thing. It’s Elvin.”

Brandhi’s career has been steadily gaining attention in underground circles for years, with a series of cassettes and digital releases that blend punk-adjacent noise with delicate ambient passages. She has collaborated with dancers, visual artists, and, on one memorable occasion, a choir of amateur singers recorded in a disused swimming pool. For At Night, she reportedly recorded large portions of the score live in the film’s actual set locations, capturing the hum of old refrigerators and the creak of floorboards as part of the work. It’s a method that gives the soundtrack a documentary-like authenticity, a far cry from the polished studio sheen often associated with high-profile film composers.

The case also raises a broader question about how quickly misinformation can shape a film’s reception before a single frame is released. Eno, notably, has not commented publicly on the mix-up, and given his famously low-profile public engagement, it’s unlikely he will. But the incident has already sparked a small wave of discourse among film-score enthusiasts, many of whom are using the moment to highlight lesser-known composers working in experimental modes. For Brandhi, that push is welcome, even if the trigger was a case of mistaken identity. “If people come for Brian Eno and stay for me, that’s fine,” she said with a shrug in one interview. “I’ll take the audience however they arrive.”

At Night is slated for a festival premiere in the coming months, though no official date has been locked in. When it does screen, the music will finally speak for itself - and perhaps put the Eno rumor to rest once and for all. For now, the corrected credit stands: music by Elvin Brandhi, and no one else.

Source: Hollywood Reporter