Television series

Soundtrack

Name: Soundtrack
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
Released: 2019
Cast: Callie Hernandez, Paul James, Jahmil French, Madeleine Stowe, Marianne Jean-Baptiste

A romantic ensemble drama set in LA where music is the emotional spine. Ten hours of intertwined stories about love, loss, and reinvention—all anchored by needle-drop moments that feel less like soundtrack and more like narrative. For people who want their heartbreak scored and their characters singing underneath their conversations.

TVMaze rating

2.3

If you liked this

Looking2014

HBO's love-and-friendship series about gay men in San Francisco. Episode-driven, character-first storytelling where relationships unfold through quiet moments and songs matter as much as dialogue. Similarly intimate ensemble energy.

But Concluded before its time and has an elegiac sadness that won't lift. Requires patience with characters who talk more than act.

Nashville2012

Sprawling ensemble drama about country musicians in Nashville with real emotional stakes. Music genuinely propels plot and character. Ten seasons means you can disappear into it completely if you want.

But Soap-opera-level plotting means sometimes the drama feels engineered. Middle seasons wear thin on their own premise.

The Summer I Turned Pretty2022

Young ensemble romance over a summer, structured around small moments that build to profound feeling. Music helps carry the emotional weather. Cast chemistry is electric and the colour palette is gorgeous.

But YA framework means emotional beats can feel familiar if you've watched much in the genre. Some viewers find the pacing slow.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Soundtrack

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Phantom Thread2017

Both understand that music and design can reveal interior life better than exposition. Both are about people who use beauty as a language for love they cannot speak.

Paul Thomas Anderson's obsessive romance between a fashion designer and his muse. Control, love, and codependency play out through fabric and gesture rather than words. Jonny Greenwood's score does what Soundtrack tries musically—it becomes a character, expressing what characters cannot.

But Deliberately slow and airless. If you want quick emotional payoffs, this film will suffocate you. Some viewers find it glacial and cold.

Fleabag2016

Six episodes per season of devastating character work. Breaks format brilliantly, mixes comedy and sorrow without warning. Like Soundtrack, it trusts music and montage to tell emotional truth quickly.

But Ends after two seasons, which is brave and right but leaves you hungry. The fourth wall breaks won't work for everyone.

Master of None2015

Aziz Ansari's episodic New York romance series where food, music, and small interactions do the real storytelling. Gorgeous, romantic, and unafraid of letting quiet moments breathe.

But Anthology approach means no cumulative momentum. Some episodes are stronger than others, and the tonal shifts can jar.

High Fidelity2020

Romance through the lens of music obsession. Rob Gordon's record collection is a character itself. Explores how love fails and people rebuild, scored with era-appropriate music that clarifies emotion.

But Only one season before cancellation. Rob is self-absorbed and though that's the point, it can be exhausting to live inside his head.

Godless2017

A Western where a town run by women becomes a refuge for broken people rebuilding. Ensemble cast, visual storytelling over exposition, music used sparingly but meaningfully. Shares Soundtrack's fascination with strangers becoming family.

But Only one season. The pacing dips and some villains are undercooked.

Feel Good2020

Mae Martin's semi-autobiographical series about love, addiction, and recovery. Intimate, funny, devastating. Uses music and montage like Soundtrack does—to compress feeling into quick, perfect moments.

But Two seasons and ends on ambiguity that will frustrate some viewers. The comedy can feel forced when the drama is most heavy.

Love, Victor2020

Young romance series about a teenager coming out. Genuine sweetness, good ensemble, and a willingness to sit with vulnerability. Uses music well to underscore emotional turns.

But Disney+ constraints mean some edges are softened. Teen romance can feel predictable if you've seen the template before.

Pose2018

Both centre marginalised communities finding love and family through art and performance. Both trust visual and musical language to do narrative work that dialogue cannot touch.

Ensemble drama about New York's ballroom culture in the 1980s and 90s. Family, reinvention, survival, and transcendent joy. Uses music, dance, and costume as primary emotional vocabulary. Utterly alive in a way that reaches you.

But Heavy subject matter—AIDS, poverty, racism—means joy is always shadowed. Some episodes prioritise spectacle over story.

We Are Who We Are2020

Both use music, landscape, and the textures of everyday life to express emotion. Both trust the audience to sit with feeling without needing to resolve it. Both centre bodies, touch, and physical presence as narrative.

Luca Guadagnino's series about American military teens in Italy discovering identity and desire. Gorgeously shot, sensual, uses music and landscape as active storytellers. Feels lived-in, intimate, real. A completely different register from Soundtrack but spiritually allied.

But Deliberately ambiguous about plot. Some viewers will find it too pretty and not interested enough in conventional drama. Only one season means endings are subtle, not conclusive.