Top TV Song Last Week: Unexpected by Gabriel Mann, Duvid Swirsky

Top song this week goes to new ABC hit drama A Million Little Things, with an original song written for the show.

 

Eddie goes on stage to perform for the first time in a long while. As he’s about to start singing he sees Delilah in the crowd. He sings about the unexpected, a reference that reflects his complicated situation with his marriage and recent affair. The song continues in the background as Eddie goes backstage, feeling the buzz of a great performance. He’s met by Delilah and unexpected news. We see Eddie’s elation and devastation all at once and hear that echoed in the song.

‘Unexpected’ was written specifically for this scene by show composer Gabriel Mann and Kyler England (Mann’s bandmate from The Rescues). “It’s basically a love song, albeit a bittersweet one, about how he was not expecting this kind of change in his life and although he is happy about it, his life is kind of falling apart at the same time,” Mann shared with ABC.

The idea of the song was written into the script along with Eddie’s performance, providing guidance to Mann and England in writing the song. Mann continues, “It’s that dynamic of being in love with someone that you can’t really have or be with, and being both overjoyed, and yet somewhat down because you can’t really pursue the relationship the way you want to.”

Mann shared with Tunefind that we’ll hear the instrumental version of “Unexpected” reappear in the series, as it becomes an unofficial theme for the forbidden love between Eddie and Delilah.

Mann was also behind the two cover songs featured (so far) on A Million Little Things, both of which had fans scrambling to find them. He covered “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers to open the pilot episode, setting the tone for the brand new series. The second episode, “Band of Dads” begins with Mann’s version of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds. Show creator DJ Nash has hinted on Twitter that they’re working on releasing those covers due to fan demand, but nothing official yet.

Of his gig as composer for A Million Little Things, Mann says, “I just feel really lucky to have landed in a place where I can utilize all the things that I bring to the table: songs, singing, and score. To be able to have an opportunity to work on something where they need and trust me to do all those things is such a treat, and I’m really thankful to the producers for that.”

Duvid Swirsky is an LA-based musician, producer, and songwriter who provided vocals on “Unexpected.” He is originally from Israel and co-founded both the Israeli band Moshav and the folk/pop trio Distant Cousins. Swirsky notes his upbringing for his interest in music, telling ABC, “When we were growing up, the only electrical appliance in the house was a record player. So while other kids might be growing up watching television and playing video games, we were listening to the records our parents brought with them—Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Neil Young.”

 

More

〉Listen now: Unexpected by Duvid Swirsky, Gabriel Mann

〉More music by Gabriel Mann

〉Full list of songs featured in A Million Little Things

〉Popular songs on Tunefind