The Last of Us soundtrack gets Gardel nod

A TV soundtrack getting awards attention is not unusual. A TV soundtrack from an Argentine composer, tied to one of the biggest game-to-screen franchises around, landing at the Premios Gardel feels more specific — and more interesting. That’s the news here. CAPIF’s 2026 Gardel nominations, announced on April 29, included *The Last of Us: Season 2 (Soundtrack from the HBO Original Series)* by Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming in the soundtrack-album field, with the ceremony set for May 26. (infobae.com) ### Why is this a Gardel story? Because the Gardels are Argentina’s big recorded-music awards, and Santaolalla is one of the country’s most internationally visible composers. So this is not just “prestige TV got nominated.” It’s an Argentine awards body recognizing a soundtrack for a global HBO series that still carries Santaolalla’s musical fingerprint all over it. (datadiario.com) ### What exactly got nominated? The nominated release is the full season-2 soundtrack album credited to Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming. It’s a 41-track album running 1 hour and 51 minutes, released on May 23, 2025. The track list mixes score cues with a few high-profile vocal moments, including Bella Ramsey’s “Take on Me” and Ashley Johnson’s “Through the Valley.” (music.apple.com) ### Why do those two names matter? Santaolalla is the core musical DNA of *The Last of Us*. He composed for the original games, and that sparse, haunted sound — ronroco, acoustic guitar, lots of emotional negative space — became part of the franchise’s identity long before (music.apple.com)ame cues into a broader television score without flattening it into generic prestige-drama wallpaper. That pairing is basically why the music still sounds like *The Last of Us* even when the production gets much bigger. (filmmusicreporter.com) ### What category is it in? The nomination sits in the soundtrack album category — the Gardel field for film, television, or other audiovisual productions. In the nominee lists circulating after CAPIF’s announcement, *The Last of Us: Season 2* appears alongside Arg(filmmusicreporter.com)competitive category, not some one-off international exception built around the show. (radioeme.com) ### Why does this stand out? Because franchise music usually gets talked about as support material — good mood, good texture, move on. But *The Last of Us* has always been different. The score is part of the brand, almost like a character acc(radioeme.com)ndtrack album that can compete on its own. The game-to-TV continuity helps too — Santaolalla is not a replacement composer trying to imitate an older sound. He is the older sound. (filmmusicreporter.com) ### Is this tied to new franchise momentum? Yes, but not in the way the early writeups suggested. The soundtrack nomination is real and current. The “summer 2026” item floating around is about a separate *Last of Us* music release covered by CBR, not the HBO season(filmmusicreporter.com)ards news from the show’s next on-screen return. (cbr.com) ### So what’s the bigger takeaway? Basically, the nomination shows that *The Last of Us* music still has a life outside the show — and that Santaolalla’s hold on the franchise remains unusually strong. In a crowded awards slate with 53 Gardel categories, that kind of crossover recognition i(cbr.com)anchise’s legacy. (diarioelzondasj.com.ar)