Andor Season 2 is the rare Star Wars show that uses Easter eggs and callbacks to pull Disney+ audiences deeper in the universe’s lore. Case in point: the major return of a Season 1 musical theme simply known as “Niamos!”
The song, composed by Emmy-winner Nicholas Britell, draws its name from a seedy, Florida-esque alien world where Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) hides in the middle of Andor Season 1. The infectious mix of tropical tones and propulsive drums tells us everything we need to know about the planet. It’s a place with more in common with Ibiza than Coruscant or Tatooine.
“Niamos!” makes its epic return in Andor Season 2 Episode 3 “Harvest.” Now, it’s used diegetically at Leida’s (Brontë Carmichael) wedding as the hit song that gets everyone, including a cratering Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), onto the dance floor.
When DECIDER spoke over the phone with Andor creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy, he confirmed that “Niamos!” is a canonical in-universe “galactic hit.” However, he admitted that wasn’t how the planetary theme started…
“When Nick wrote it for Niamos the first time, we were like, ‘Wow! This is fantastic,'” Gilroy said. “And then we needed to get background source music for our scenes. Like, you know, what’s playing at a party, or what’s playing at the embassy. It’s really tricky in Star Wars.”
George Lucas might have been content to push Max Rebo and his brand of jizz onto Star Wars audiences, but Gilroy and his team realized that “Niamos!” could be remixed and used throughout the show.
“For the really sophisticated listener, it’s actually in the brothel playing. It’s a different version,” Gilroy said, referring to what Britell calls the “Niamos! (Morlana Club Mix)” on the official Andor Season 1 soundtrack. “And then it’s actually playing in Mon Mothma’s embassy in the first embassy scene. It’s sort of slowed down, a different version.”
“So we’re like, ‘You know what? It’s like a galactic hit.'”
Cut to Andor Season 2. With Leida getting married to Stekan Sculdun (Finlay Glasgow), Andor needed to stage a massive three day wedding celebration. Thankfully, Gilroy already had a song for the party scene.
“So then we were like, ‘Oh, at the wedding, it could be like all the kids want to hear “The Macarena.”‘ You know, it’s the hit of the thing,” Gilroy explained.
Andor Season 2 composer Brandon Roberts gave the Britell song a remix that made it perfect for Mon Mothma’s now iconic drunk dance scene. “They remixed a real EDM version of it this time,” Gilroy said.
Dying to give “Niamos!” your own spin? Gilroy confided in DECIDER that could come together sooner than you might think. “I think we’re going to try to get the stems out this week so that other people can remix it,” he told us Monday afternoon.
Andor Season 2 Episodes 7-9 will premiere on Disney+ tonight, May 6, at 9 PM ET.