Galavant is far and away my favorite musical fairytale comedy series on TV. OK, so it's the only musical fairytale comedy series on TV, but that doesn't make it any less charming. Galavant is the kind of show that I can't quite believe exists; I'm a total theater geek, and it's rare that a genuine televised song-and-dance extravaganza comes along that's intended for grown-ups. And it's the songs that make the show so unique and consistently surprising. Galavant returns for Season 2 on Sunday, Jan. 3 with new adventures, cast members, and sarcastic, showstopping numbers. To prepare for another season of meta-humor and storybook send-ups, you may want to review last year's tracks. Where can you find the Galavant Season 1 soundtrack?
What's hopefully only the first of many volumes of the Galavant soundtrack was released in January 2015. You can download the 14-track album on Amazon for $9.49, or order a physical copy of the CD for $13.98. Songs like "Love Is Strange" and "Hey, Hey, We're The Monks" can be purchased individually for $1.29 each. iTunes has the full album listed for $9.99, with tracks also going for $1.29 each. Sadly, the soundtrack is missing any songs from the last two episodes of Galavant's eight-episode first season. So a download won't include any of the five versions of the tongue-in-cheek hero's ballad "Moment In The Sun" or the finale ditty that musically summarized the entire season.
Not ready to commit to owning the proof of Galavant's noble-ish quest? Spotify has the soundtrack to stream, plus a single version of the opening number from the Season 2 premiere, fittingly titled "A New Season." ABC shared a lyric video for the full song in December, which starts with King Richard and their pirate companions whining about Galavant (the character and the show) overusing his signature song. ("It didn't win an Emmy, now it's time to move along.")
"A New Season" goes on to make witty comment on the show's somewhat surprising renewal and to take stock of where each member of Galavant's main ensemble wound up in the finale. Richard and Galavant are at sea, of course. Izzy is locked up awaiting her wedding to a prepubescent cousin. And Queen Madalena is busy training to be an even scarier singing sociopath. Take it away, guys.
Galavant's songs aren't this catchy and clever by accident. They have quite the musical theater pedigree behind them. The composer and lyricist duo of Alan Menken and Glenn Slater previously teamed up on the Broadway version of Disney's The Little Mermaid and on the 2010 animated musical Tangled. Menken is basically golden age Disney royalty, with the scores of Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Beauty And The Beast among his credits. (Basically, I have him to thank for my childhood.) TVLine interviewed Galavant executive producer John Hoberg about the songs he's most excited for fans to hear in these new episodes. "There’s a song in Episode 7 that Eddie Marsan sings," Hoberg said. "I don’t want to give away too much, but it’s a song about death and I think it’s one of the best things we’ve done."
"Life and death" is weighty subject matter for the joyously silly show, but Galavant has won hearts with its boldness before. And Season 2 promises to deliver another batch of songs just as original and belt-able as the first. Hopefully, its own soundtrack won't be far behind Sunday's season premiere.
Image: Nick Ray/ABC
