The System (Original Soundtrack Album)

Lee Ranaldo’s The System feels like a real reawakening: a newly configured version of his soundtrack for Joris Postema’s eco-doc The System, rebuilt from the 2025 Doxy Music / Riva Media Records release with unreleased material written and recorded for the film.

The film follows three climate activists pushing back against a techno-fascist deathkultur, balancing despair and futility with the enduring force of human resistance. Ranaldo’s guitar language captures both sides beautifully, moving beyond soundtrack form into something spacious, spectral and fully standalone.

From the rhythmic grime of Tajikistan (Nice to Meet You) to the closing Cool Water, the album unfolds with real narrative pull. Along the way, Jim Jarmusch, Leila Boudreil, Brian Chase and Yonatan Gat help open up the ritual thrum of Berlin Blockade, the haunted overtones of Bergelmir and the cavernous strum of Instruments of Violence.