How to write a James Bond song - from the man who knows best

The "dunnn, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun" of the original James Bond theme tune is a time machine for millions of people.

For some, it takes them back to watching Dr No in a crowded cinema.

For me, and maybe the eight million others who bought the game, it plonks me back on the rug in my childhood house, sitting cross-legged in front of the Nintendo 64 and playing GoldenEye 007.

Those few bars are the soundtrack to my two older brothers backing me into 64-bit corners and shooting me at point-blank range on a Sunday afternoon. They are, strangely, some of my favourite memories.

Fourteen years after the last major Bond game release, there's finally a new one coming. But how to capture that sexy, swinging, mysterious sound that is so… Bond, and so important to millions?

For this, the developers of the much-hyped 007 First Light brought in the big guns.

"The key to a Bond theme is [whether it] tempts you into the world. It's a shop window," says Hollywood musician David Arnold.

He's the only composer since John Barry to score multiple Bond films, and joined forces with sultry pop megastar Lana Del Rey to score the new game.

"Has there been a Bond song that sounds like Lana Del Rey? No, there hasn't," says Arnold.

Together, they created the song First Light, released ahead of the game, which comes out in May.

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There may not have been a Bond song that sounds like Lana Del Rey but Arnold's signature is certainly present - he was responsible for all the Bond themes from Tomorrow Never Dies to Quantum Of Solace.

"There's going to be car chases, there's going to be fist fights, there are going to be gadgets. But that's not what it is about," he says, musing on how to capture the essence of Bond in a melody.

"You have to dig deep into what [the film or game] is actually about," he says.

The new game focuses on a young James Bond earning his 007 stripes.

"Like a moth to a flame, he is compelled to go towards something which [is] very often dangerous.

"It's that compulsion as a young person to feel that they have to run towards that danger and try and survive."

That sense of danger is what Arnold and the team worked hard to capture - and the result is three minutes and twenty-three seconds of strings, smoky vocals and big Bond energy.

Now, seven years in the making and with release just around the corner, the team behind the game has to pull it out of the bag too.

"From the get-go, we knew we wanted to do it right, and we wanted to do justice," says Hakan Abrak, the chief executive of IO Interactive, the game's developer.

He's been a fan of the Bond films since childhood but, as a Dane, having a team of developers in Brighton was invaluable, helping to perfect things like the British humour.

"007 means a lot to a lot of people and means a lot to me, having watched the movies when I was a kid with my father.

"But it just has this extra thing for the British, right? Feeling that love in our chats when we are working on the game, it's been something special."

Abrak made sure it had all the ingredients a Bond epic needs: "The car, the glamour, the heightened reality, the music," but he also wanted ambitious stories and strong emotions.

He thinks - hopes - he got there.

"I'm extremely proud of where we are… hopefully people are going to like it when it comes out."

(c) Sky News 2026: How to write a James Bond song - from the man who knows best