‘Russian Doll’ Music Supervisor on the Time-Traveling Cues of the ’70s and ’80s for Season 2
Lily Moayeri If you weren’t familiar with Harry Nilsson before the first season of Netflix’s “Russian Doll,” you certainly knew his song “Gotta Get Up” after it recurred on all eight of the show’s episodes — every time Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia repeatedly reawakens on the same night after dying in different ways. The second season of the series, now streaming on Netflix, doesn’t have a specific tethering song, but it serves up some choice cuts from the ’70s and ’80s, including Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” Falco’s “Der Kommissar,” Van Halen’s “Runnin’ With the Devil” and Nena’s “99 Luftballons.”These needle drops are apropos considering the central theme of the new season is time travel — whenever Nadia takes the subway. “We wanted the music to feel authentic and line up with the eras,” says Brienne Rose, music supervisor for “Russian Doll,” co-created and co-written by Lyonne.