Drive

I remember the first time I watched Drive, I was immediately struck by the soundtrack. The opening credits with the pink stylised font backed by a 80's influenced track. The film begun as a modern, slick action movie and then carried on with a modern electronic track with a nod to 80's incorporated in there. 
It was striking in that in stereotypical heist films, the typical music used is incredibly different to the one the composer Cliff Martinez used.
The beginning scene with the track 'Tick of the Clock' by The Chromatics. The underlaying bass creates a tension that is hardly noticeable but helps to create suspense and uncertainty when the driver is eluding the police. 

One of my favourite scenes of the film is the lift scene where the driver and Irene are in a lift with someone who has a gun and has come to kill him. The scene begins with the hitman already being in the lift and the driver and Irene stepping in. The hitman gives the driver a suspicious look and a bass note is played along with this look to create tension and make us realise that the man is suspicious. The sound of the lift is louder than would be usually to also create a sense of tension and uncomfortableness. When the driver clocks the gun in the man's jacket, the sound of the lift is slowed right down along with the movements of the character's to create suspense and the slow, tonal theme plays when he gives her a lingering kiss in slowmo. The sound works beautifully here, clearly conveying the emotion in the scene, i.e. he knows he has to kill the man to protect her, but his violence will push her away. It is also a secret moment as the man can't see the kiss and with the sound enhancing the emotion of the scene, it lets the audience look in on a private, emotive moment stole between two characters, he knowing that this will be the last time he will get to kiss her, get to show his love for her before she will leave him. The sound of the lift rushes back in as the film quickens back up to normal speed, and the driver throws the man around the lift, the echoing bangs of his head hitting the metal wall, creating a sense of violent claustrophobia, and then proceeds to stamps on his head, the foley being loud, echoing and sickening to listen to. 

The juxtaposition between the two scenes; the slow, emotive kiss and the violent murder are heavily influenced by sound design, the soundtrack evoking emotion and the harsh foley snapping up back into reality and into the moment of the film. 

The synth tones are used at moments where the driver, who sometimes doesn't answer or is silent. The tones tell the audience how he is feeling or how the people in the situation are feeling about each other without speech. For example, when the driver is invited into the kitchen of Irene and Benicio's house and she asks him, 'Is it dangerous?' referring to him stunt driving, he answers with an amused smile and so does she, the music swelling slightly to show that they have had a connecting moment despite only just meeting one another.