HBO’s ‘Mare of Easttown’ got musical help from Mannequin Pussy, Will Yip & Japanese Breakfast

Manny Sanchez

HBO's much-anticipated crime drama limited series Mare of Easttown debuted on Sunday night. It stars Kate Winslet as Mare, a single mom/grandma and former high school basketball star who is now a police detective in her very small Pennsylvania hometown. When she investigates a murder, dramas past and present are stirred up.

The premiere was excellent and played out as much as a slice-of-gritty-life drama as it did a crime thriller. It also introduced Mare's teenage daughter, Siobhan (Angourie Rice), who has a band that plays her father's (Mare's ex-husband's) engagement party. The songs the band performs in the series are all Mannequin Pussy songs, with Angourie Rice singing new vocals over the band's original tracks, as overseen by producer Will Yip.

Mannequin Pussy shared the news on Twitter on Sunday: "Huge shoutout to Mare of Easttown for working so closely with Philly talent for a show that’s based in delco," they wrote. They also noted that because they were on tour when the series was filming (pre-pandemic), the series got Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner to coach them on their performances in the series. The band says the show uses  "Who You Are" and "In Love Again," with "Control" having "a little moment as well."

Angourie shared a picture of the band's practice on her Instagram: "This is a pic from our band rehearsals, where we were coached by the glorious @jbrekkie, and recorded by the legendary @willyipmusic."

The AV Club notes that Hotelier were also in consideration for having their songs used before the producers ultimately settled on Mannequin Pussy. The Hotelier's Christian Holden wrote in a since-deleted tweet that the band “fucked up asking for more money" but added "makes more sense for Mannequin Pussy songs anyway.”

You can watch the premiere episode of Mare of Easttown on HBO Max, and watch the trailer below.

In other news, Michelle Zauner's memoir, Crying in H Mart, is out Tuesday, and you can read an excerpt at The Cut and listen to her talk about it and food on podcast The Sporkful, below.

You may remember Angourie Rice from the Miley Cyrus episode of Black Mirror.