Apple TV+’s 10-episode psychological thriller Cape Fear arrived on June 5, 2026, bringing together an extraordinary ensemble — Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, and Patrick Wilson — for the latest adaptation of John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel The Executioners.
Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, the series is as much a sonic experience as it is a visual one. At its heart is an original score from Emmy-winning composer Jeff Russo, woven together with the legacy material of one of cinema’s most iconic thriller themes. This guide covers every confirmed song, the score’s creative DNA, and where you can stream the music.
Cape Fear Soundtrack at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Series Title | Cape Fear |
| Platform | Apple TV+ |
| Premiere Date | June 5, 2026 |
| Episodes | 10 |
| Series Creator | Nick Antosca |
| Executive Producers | Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Nick Antosca, Morten Tyldum, Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, Alex Hedlund, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey |
| Production Companies | Universal Content Productions, Amblin Television, Sikelia Productions, Eat the Cat |
| Composer | Jeff Russo |
| Score Basis | Original music by Jeff Russo, incorporating Bernard Herrmann’s 1962 theme (as adapted by Elmer Bernstein in 1991) |
| Score Album | Cape Fear, Season 1 (Apple Original Series Soundtrack) by Jeff Russo — released July 3, 2026, Lakeshore Records (28 tracks, ~1hr 54min) |
| Finale Date | July 31, 2026 |
Cape Fear Soundtrack (2026) Overview
The musical identity of Cape Fear (2026) is inseparable from the history of the property itself. The 1962 film featured what many consider one of Bernard Herrmann‘s most ferocious scores — a boiling, brass-heavy orchestral work that became a cornerstone of the thriller genre. When Martin Scorsese remade the film in 1991, Elmer Bernstein adapted and re-orchestrated Herrmann’s original material rather than replacing it, preserving its menace while giving it fresh vitality.
For this 2026 series, showrunner Nick Antosca and composer Jeff Russo have taken a similar path of continuity rather than reinvention. According to Antosca, executive producers Scorsese and Spielberg both made clear from early on that Herrmann’s music needed to function as a character within the show — part of its DNA, not just background decoration. Russo spent considerable time finding organic ways to weave those iconic cues into the series while supplementing them with original compositions for the emotional and dramatic space that ten hours of storytelling requires. Multiple critics noted the result is a score that feels haunted — as though Herrmann’s original ghost is present throughout, filtered through a contemporary lens.
Update: Lakeshore Records released the official score album, Cape Fear, Season 1 (Apple Original Series Soundtrack), digitally on July 3, 2026 — ahead of the series’ July 31 finale. The album collects 28 tracks of Jeff Russo’s original score, running approximately 1 hour and 54 minutes, and is available to stream and download on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other major platforms.
Who Composed the Cape Fear (2026) Soundtrack?
Jeff Russo
The original score for Cape Fear (2026) was composed by Jeff Russo, confirmed by Film Music Reporter on February 4, 2026.
Born on August 31, 1969, Jeff Russo first came to prominence as a rock musician — co-founding the influential post-grunge band Tonic and later the Americana outfit Low Stars. Tonic’s 1996 debut Lemon Parade produced the mainstream rock hit “If You Could Only See” and earned the band two Grammy nominations in 2003, including Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Take Me As I Am” and Best Rock Album for Head on Straight.
Russo’s transition to film and television scoring began around 2012, when he was invited by musician friends Wendy & Lisa to help develop theme music for a planned TV adaptation of the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo. The project proved to be the defining turning point of his career. His work on FX’s Fargo earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special in 2017, along with four additional Emmy nominations across the anthology’s run.
His parallel work on CBS All Access’s Star Trek: Discovery established him as a go-to composer for prestige genre television. Russo has since scored multiple Star Trek series, including Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (2026). On Cape Fear, he brings a track record of blending orchestral drama with psychological intensity — qualities demanded by the Herrmann legacy he is tasked with honoring and extending.
Russo’s prior collaboration with Cape Fear creator Nick Antosca also gave this project a foundation of established creative trust. The two had previously worked together on Syfy’s Channel Zero, Hulu’s The Act, and Netflix’s Brand New Cherry Flavor.
Selected Jeff Russo Filmography
| Year | Project | Network / Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2023 | Fargo | FX | Emmy win (2017); 4 additional nominations |
| 2016 | The Night Of | HBO | Miniseries |
| 2016–2019 | Legion | FX | World Soundtrack Award nomination (2019) |
| 2017–2024 | Star Trek: Discovery | Paramount+ | Original Star Trek theme by Alexander Courage |
| 2017–2023 | Snowfall | FX | |
| 2019–present | For All Mankind | Apple TV+ | |
| 2019–2024 | The Umbrella Academy | Netflix | |
| 2020–2024 | Star Trek: Picard | Paramount+ | |
| 2020–present | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Paramount+ | |
| 2024 | Ripley | Netflix | Miniseries |
| 2025 | Alien: Earth | FX | |
| 2025 | Zero Day | Netflix | |
| 2026 | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | Paramount+ | |
| 2026 | Cape Fear | Apple TV+ | Original score + Bernard Herrmann integration |
Cape Fear (2026) Episode Guide & Confirmed Songs
Cape Fear completed its full 10-episode run on July 31, 2026. The table below reflects the confirmed song list for every episode, sourced from NME’s episode-by-episode breakdown (published August 1, 2026, updated August 7, 2026).
Editorial Note: Only songs from aired episodes are listed below. Songs appearing in trailers or promotional content have been excluded, as trailer placements do not confirm in-episode use.
Episode 1 — “Fingers & Toes” (June 5, 2026)
Directed by Morten Tyldum | Written by Nick Antosca
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Jessica” | Allman Brothers Band |
| “Linger” | The Cranberries |
| “Can’t Do Much” | Waxahatchee |
Episode 2 — “Why Would I Want to Hurt You?” (June 5, 2026)
Directed by S.J. Clarkson | Written by Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Midnight Run” | Charley Crockett |
Episode 3 — “Phantom Sensations” (June 12, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Lookin’ for Love” | Johnny Lee |
| “Highwayman” | The Highwaymen |
| “Jingle of a Dog’s Collar” | Butthole Surfers |
Episode 4 — “Pierced” (June 19, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Call Me” | St. Paul & The Broken Bones |
| “Jingle of a Dog’s Collar” | Butthole Surfers |
Episode 5 — “Faith” (June 26, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” | Dusty Springfield |
| “Hey Man Nice Shot” | Filter |
| “Feral Love” | Chelsea Wolfe |
Episode 6 — “Possum” (July 3, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Hey Nineteen” | Steely Dan |
Episode 7 — “Mongrel” (July 10, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” | Blue Öyster Cult |
| “I’m Eighteen” | Alice Cooper |
Episode 8 — “Los tiempos de Dios son Perfectos” (July 17, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” | Aretha Franklin |
Episode 9 — “The Scar” (July 24, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Waitin’ for the Bus” | ZZ Top |
Episode 10 — Series Finale (July 31, 2026)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” | Neil Young |
Full episode-by-episode song list sourced from NME’s verified breakdown (published August 1, 2026, updated August 7, 2026).
Score Highlights
The Herrmann Foundation
The most distinctive element of the Cape Fear (2026) score is its deliberate inheritance of Bernard Herrmann’s legendary 1962 theme. Herrmann — best known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock on Psycho, Vertigo, and North by Northwest — created a score for J. Lee Thompson’s Cape Fear built on thundering brass, menacing low strings, and rhythmic intensity that mirrored the relentlessness of villain Max Cady himself. When Scorsese remade the film in 1991, Elmer Bernstein preserved and reorchestrated those cues rather than composing a new score from scratch — a deliberate tribute to Herrmann’s irreplaceable work.
For the 2026 series, Jeff Russo takes the same custodial approach. Antosca and Russo had already committed to integrating Herrmann’s material before Scorsese and Spielberg weighed in with the same directive: make the original score a living character within the show, not a nostalgic ornament. The challenge Russo faced was that a 10-episode series demands far more music than a single film can supply — and so his original compositions carry the weight of extended dramatic development while the Herrmann cues punctuate key moments of confrontation and menace.
A Score That Echoes the Fargo Approach
Hollywood Reporter’s review drew an instructive parallel: Russo deploys Herrmann’s Cape Fear theme in a manner comparable to how he handles Carter Burwell’s iconic Fargo theme throughout the FX anthology series. Rather than simply reprising it, he integrates it contextually — the theme arrives when the show earns it, never as background texture. Slash Film called Russo’s treatment “ingenious,” describing it as a revitalization that honors the source material without being enslaved to it.
Episode 1 — Score-Driven Opening
Multiple critics noted that pilot director Morten Tyldum opens the series by replicating the photo-negative effect Scorsese used in 1991, accompanied directly by Herrmann’s signature theme. The effect creates an immediate lineage — viewers are placed in the continuum of all three Cape Fear iterations before a word of dialogue has been spoken. Russo’s score then transitions into the contemporary fabric of his original material, establishing the tonal blueprint the series will follow.
Orchestral Tone and Emotional Register
NME’s three-star review highlighted the “melodramatic orchestral swells” that underscore emotional moments in the early episodes, while Koimoi’s review described Russo’s handling of the Herrmann material as making “the original’s ghost feel trapped in a newer house.” Both assessments point to the same quality: the score operates in two registers simultaneously — a modern psychological drama score and a horror-adjacent thriller score rooted in mid-century orchestral tradition. The combination gives the series a musical character unlike anything else on television in 2026.
Cape Fear (2026) Licensed Songs / Needle Drops
The following songs are confirmed across the full series run (Episodes 1–10), sourced from NME’s verified soundtrack coverage (published August 1, 2026, updated August 7, 2026).
| Song | Artist | Episode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Jessica” | Allman Brothers Band | Episode 1 | Confirmed in-episode use |
| “Linger” | The Cranberries | Episode 1 | Confirmed in-episode use |
| “Can’t Do Much” | Waxahatchee | Episode 1 | Confirmed in-episode use |
| “Midnight Run” | Charley Crockett | Episode 2 | Confirmed in-episode use |
Note: Scene-by-scene context for individual song placements beyond episode-level attribution has not been separately documented in available sources. The list above reflects confirmed episode-level song placements only.
Where to Listen to the Cape Fear (2026) Soundtrack?
Cape Fear streamed exclusively on Apple TV+ ($12.99/month after a 7-day free trial), with all 10 episodes now available following the July 31, 2026 finale. The licensed songs featured across the series — including tracks by the Allman Brothers Band, The Cranberries, Waxahatchee, and Charley Crockett — are available to stream individually on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The official score album, Cape Fear, Season 1 (Apple Original Series Soundtrack) by Jeff Russo, was released digitally by Lakeshore Records on July 3, 2026, and is available now on all major platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who composed the score for Cape Fear (2026)?
Jeff Russo composed the original score for the 2026 Apple TV+ series. Russo is an Emmy Award-winning composer known for Fargo, Star Trek: Discovery, Alien: Earth, and Ripley, among many others.
Does the 2026 Cape Fear series use Bernard Herrmann’s original score?
Yes. The series incorporates Bernard Herrmann’s iconic 1962 Cape Fear score — the same material Elmer Bernstein adapted for Scorsese’s 1991 film. Executive producers Scorsese and Spielberg specifically requested that the Herrmann theme be present throughout the show as a core part of its identity. Russo’s original compositions work alongside and around this legacy material.
How many episodes does Cape Fear (2026) have, and when did it finish airing?
Cape Fear is a 10-episode limited series. The first two episodes premiered on June 5, 2026, with new episodes arriving every Friday. The series finale aired July 31, 2026, and all 10 episodes are now available to stream.
What songs are in Cape Fear Episode 1?
Three songs have been confirmed in Episode 1 (“Fingers & Toes”): “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers Band, “Linger” by The Cranberries, and “Can’t Do Much” by Waxahatchee. Source: NME.
Is there an official Cape Fear (2026) score album?
Yes. Lakeshore Records released the official score album, Cape Fear, Season 1 (Apple Original Series Soundtrack) by Jeff Russo, digitally on July 3, 2026. It contains 28 tracks running approximately 1 hour and 54 minutes, and is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other major platforms.
Where can I watch Cape Fear (2026)?
Cape Fear is exclusively available on Apple TV+. A 7-day free trial is available, after which the subscription costs $12.99/month in the United States.
Who created the Cape Fear (2026) series?
The series was created and showrun by Nick Antosca (The Act, Channel Zero, Brand New Cherry Flavor) and is executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg — the director and producer, respectively, of the acclaimed 1991 Cape Fear film.
Related reading: Catch up on our Apple TV+ soundtrack guide, browse the TV Soundtrack hub, or check our general Streaming guide for more 2026 series scores.