Adam Gibbons is the British artist behind projects like Lack of Afro and The Damn Straights that has been putting out music since the mid ‘00s. For all he’s accomplished in his career, one thing that has eluded him thus far is breaking into film scores. Well, he finally took upon himself to make his own film score, The Last Bastion (OST).

The Last Bastion is the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist, and may never exist, but Gibbons came up with the general premise of “The film starts off with four men - having had enough of the uninspiring lives they each lead, decide to pack up all their possessions and travel to a place called ‘The Last Bastion’ - a kind of utopian theme park that promises eternal fulfilment.” This was enough to get the wheels turning for Gibbons, who then set out to write a score filled with action packed music. He’s clearly drawing inspiration from ‘70s Blaxploitation movie scores, like those done by Hayes, Mayfield, Coffey, and beyond, crafting this cinematic funk that builds around horns, strings, keyboards, and drums. It’s a big sound with a lot of energy to it, and you always feel like you’re in the middle of the action when you listen to it. There are a few moments here and there where some modern production or keyboard sounds will find their way to the forefront, but for the majority of the album, this has much more of a timeless feel to it. This film could be made tomorrow, it could be made fifty years ago, and this score would be fun to listen to as the action played out on the big screen. Gibbons also shows a lot of poise as a composer, building enough variety and complexity across the music of this soundtrack to really take you on a journey and never repeat himself in the process.

The Last Bastion is a fun and different look for an artist that has been around for a minute. Adam Gibbons reinvented himself once again and gave us a funky way to charge up our imagination and let our own movie play out in our heads as we listen to this soundtrack.