RANGE ROVER “THE SPILLWAY”

Syncsmith partnered with Accenture (formerly Spark44) to soundtrack a 6min long directors cut for their Spillway global challenge. The epic ascent saw the new Range Rover Sport resist the surging torrent of water flowing down the ramp of the Karahnjukar Dam, Iceland - the biggest of its kind in the world - at a rate of 750 tonnes per minute. A loss of traction risked plunging down the perilous 90m drop at the base of the spillway to the valley floor below. The successful Spillway ascent was screened for the first time at an exclusive launch event at Jaguar Land Rover’s Advanced Product Creation Centre in Gaydon, UK. Official James Bond stunt driver Jessica Hawkins was behind the wheel as the new Range Rover Sport demonstrated its performance and composure, completing the latest in a series of challenges for Land Rover’s luxury performance SUV. Previous feats include a record‑setting hill‑climb at Pikes Peak, a first recorded crossing of the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in the Arabian Peninsula and a first ascent of the 999 steps to Heaven’s Gate in China, in 2018. The spillway climb was the final obstacle on the drive from the valley floor to the summit of the dam, taking in a flooded riverbed, long steep tunnels and the 40‑degree rocky dam wall itself. The 294m stretch of spillway had water furiously cascading down its 90‑metre drop, to provide the ultimate test of performance and driver confidence.

AUDIO STRATEGY

The audio strategy was centred on translating an almost unthinkable physical feat into a visceral sonic experience: relentless ascent against gravity, risk, and environment.

Anchored by the raw, primal energy of Aïsha Devi’s “Adera” as a guiding beacon, the score evolved as a continuous, escalating force - layering distorted textures, percussive propulsion, and strained vocal elements to mirror mechanical stress and human tension.

Drawing on contemporary scoring approaches that fuse industrial sound design with emotive minimalism, the music remained unyielding, with no release - only mounting pressure, embodying vehicle power and psychological endurance required to conquer the spillway’s near-impossible climb.

BESPOKE COMPOSITION

The bespoke composition was driven by the need for authenticity - both environmental and emotional - leading to the selection of Valgeir Sigurðsson.

His deep-rooted connection to Iceland’s stark, colossal landscapes, combined with a career shaping avant-garde and cinematic soundscapes, made him uniquely equipped to translate the spillway’s scale and hostility into music. Drawing on Valgeir’s experience blending organic textures with experimental processing, the composition fused glacial atmospherics, tectonic low-end, and manipulated vocal elements to evoke both the physical environment and psychological strain.

This approach ensured the score felt inherently tied to place, capturing not just the landscape’s brutality, but an underlying sense of Icelandic folklore, imbuing the ascent with a mythical, otherworldly presence.

SOUND DESIGN

The whole approach was sound design-led, with sound design and score conceived as a unified composition. Rather than separate layers, both disciplines seamlessly integrated to create a cohesive sonic language.

The sound design immersed the audience in the austere environment and the psychological intensity experienced by the driver. Central to this was amplifying Jess’s fear - having never attempted a stunt of this magnitude - through moments that captured hesitation, instability, and resolve. The force of the spillway water was rendered through relentless, percussive textures - positioned as a constant adversary to the ascent.

Layered within this, tonal elements drew on Icelandic folklore, evoking unseen forces within the mountain - as if the bedrock held ghost-like resonances - blurring the lines between reality and myth.