Singer-songwriter Camila Cabello and Dune/Top Gun: Maverick’s composer Hans Zimmer have collaborated to write and record a new song that will accompany the debut extended trailer for the eagerly anticipated Sir David Attenborough-narrated series Frozen Planet II.
The new track, ‘Take Me Back Home’, marks the first time a new song has been written to support a BBC One natural history landmark release and features the haunting vocals of Cabello supported by the epic orchestration of Zimmer and his long-term collaborators – arranger Anže Rozman and producer Russell Emanuel for Bleeding Fingers Music.
A sequel to 2011’s ground-breaking series, Frozen Planet II is a spellbinding six-episode journey through earth’s magical icy lands including the north and south poles, narrated by Sir David Attenborough and produced by BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, the makers of Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II.
Cabello’s lyrics paired with Zimmer’s music echo both the fragility and jeopardy of the series’ subject matter – the world’s coldest regions, Tundras and mountain tops where the planet’s most enigmatic beasts reign supreme – despite the animals and lands finding themselves on the cusp of huge change and ever-increasing threat. The song soundtracks an extended trailer where we see wolves hunt huge bison across vast snowy plains, killer whales using cunning techniques to stalk their prey and rarely seen Siberian tigers padding quietly through crisp white snow.
BBC Radio 1 will globally debut ‘Take Me Back Home’ on the Greg James Show this Friday, August 26th with a little help from Cabello and Zimmer themselves ahead of the Frozen Planet II first-look trailer’s debut at 1200hrs UK BST that same day on BBC Earth and BBC Studios Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube accounts. It will also launch on Camila Cabello’s social media accounts, to her millions of followers.
Camila Cabello says: “To be able to combine my passion for the planet we live on and my music is a dream come true – never mind also getting to work with the legend that is Hans Zimmer. Frozen Planet II is stunning and Sir David’s narration is deeply powerful as we try to protect these incredible ecosystems from global warming. I’m grateful to be able to lend my voice to such an inspiring series.”
Hans Zimmer commented: “It was hugely exciting composing and recording ‘Take Me Back Home’ with Camila and discovering that her musical talents are as powerful as her voice. The Bleeding Fingers team and I feel incredibly privileged to be given the opportunity to score such a pioneering and important natural history landmark as Frozen Planet II.”
Mark Brownlow, Executive Producer, Frozen Planet II, added: “Frozen Planet II is a celebration of wondrous wildlife overcoming the challenges of life in the extremes. Yet today it faces the even greater challenge of climate change. Hans and Camila’s profoundly moving original song captures the fragility of these magical realms at a time when their very future hangs in the balance.”
Frozen Planet II is a BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for BBC One, co-produced by BBC America and The Open University, Migu Video, ZDF and France Télévisions. The Executive Producer is Mark Brownlow and the Series Producer is Elizabeth White.
