Trespasses on Channel 4: 'Evocative' soundtrack and score includes Dusty Springfield, Mud, and Thin Lizzy
The four-part drama is a beautifully-told story about "forbidden love" in 70s Belfast
Trespasses on Channel 4 is a beautifully-told story about “forbidden love” in 1975’s Belfast, and the soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to the heartbreaking but uplifting story.
Talking about why people should watch the drama, based on Louise Kennedy’s bestselling book of the same name, screenwriter Ailbhe Keogan told us that “it’s a very satisfying watch on every level”.
She added: “The love story propelled by a thriller engine totally lands. The direction and performances are incredible. The cinematography is a feast. The soundtrack and score are evocative. The production design brings 1970s Belfast back to life.”
She’s absolutely right. As a four-part series, you “go on a real journey with Cushla and Michael”, and you’ll be all the richer for it. If a little lighter on tissues.
Here’s a run-down of the sublime soundtrack which accompanies Channel 4 drama Trespasses.
What is the soundtrack to Trespasses on Channel 4?
The music featured in Trespasses takes us straight to the 70s. In Belfast, it was a particularly fraught time smack bang in the middle of the Troubles.
And the music, blending soft love songs, with rebellious punk rock sums up the beating heart of the four-part series.
The story is a brilliantly-moving adaptation of the heartbreaking novel of the same name about forbidden love. Cushla, a young Catholic teacher, meets and falls in love with older, married Protestant Michael. The love affair would have been seen as an “abomination” by their peers.
And the moving soundtrack perfectly reflects the tale – of two people falling passionately in love amongst a backdrop of mistrust, violence, and fear.
What songs feature in the Channel 4 series?
The very first song we hear during episode one of Trespasses is Dusty Springfield’s I Close My Eyes, a dramatic, piano-heavy love song. It was first released in 1968, and is about the overwhelming joy of finding true love.
Beatrice’s Something’s on Your Mind plays during the closing scenes in the final episode. The song was actually the first single by the Belfast-born singer.
It’s a cover of a song first recorded by tragic 70s singer Karen Dalton. The American country blues singer, guitarist, and banjo player died from an AIDS-related illness, aged 55, after years of drug and alcohol addiction throughout her life.
The song is appropriately about “letting yourself face something that keeps setting you back”.
Many of the songs featured on the Trespasses soundtrack are from Irish and Northern Irish artists, including Irish Celtic rock band Horslips, Irish singer and songwriter Rory Gallagher, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and Irish singer Joe Dolan.
They were mostly all released between 1965 and 1975, with the exception of Beatrice’s Something’s on Your Mind, which is a cover of a 1971 track. Shipwreck Blues by Ottilie Patterson (featuring Chris Barber’s Jazz and Blues band) is a Golden Oldie having been first released in 1956.
The song Old Note by Irish singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill was released as a single in 2022. It is played during a later scene in the C4 series.
Who wrote the musical score for Trespasses?
The musical score was provided by David Holmes and Brian Irvine.
A Professor of Music at Ulster University, Derry-based Brian Irvine is one half of a duo that also created and composed the original music score for the hit BBC One mystery drama The Woman in the Wall.
Dr David Holmes is a composer and honorary graduate of Ulster University.
The talented duo have worked on many projects together, including film scores for Meryl Streep film The Laundroma, and Ordinary Love starring Liam Neeson.
Here are all the songs that feature on the Trespasses soundtrack
Dusty Springfield’s I Close My Eyes, 1968.
Andy Kim’s Rock Me Gently, 1974.
Horslips’ King of the Fairies, 1974.
Rory Gallagher’s Sinner Boy, 1971.
Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic, 1970.
Frankie Valli’s Our Day Will Come, 1975.
Dr Feelgood’s Roxette, 1974.
Mud’s Tiger Feet, 1975,
Paper Lace’s Billy Don’t be a Hero, 1974.
Astrud Gilberto’s The Shadow of Your Smile, 1965.
Olivia Newton John’s Love Song, 1971.
Thin Lizzy’s Spirit Slips Away, 1975.
John Cameron’s Half-Forgotten Daydreams, 1973.
John Martyn’s I’d Rather be the Devil (Devil Got My Woman), 1973.
Joe Dolan’s You’re Such a Good Looking Woman, 1970.
Shipwreck Blues by Ottilie Patterson (featuring Chris Barber’s Jazz and Blues band), 1956.
Lisa O’Neill’s Old Note, 2022.
Lee Hazlewood’s My Autumn’s Done Come, 1966.
Lonnie Donegan’s When I Move to the Sky, 1956.
Beatrice’s Something’s on Your Mind, 2025.
To listen to the playlist on Spotify, click here.
