Why ‘The White Lotus’ Changed Its Intro Music for Season 3

The White Lotus returned to the small screen over the weekend with intro music that was noticeably different from the club-inspired “banger” fans loved for season 2.

Composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer confessed to Variety that he initially thought the Italian-inspired sound “Renaissance” used for season 2 was “terrible.” He said perfectionism in the studio can overcomplicate things and despite the intro music eventually proving popular with fans, he opted to rework it for season 3. 

On Sunday, Feb. 16, The White Lotus season 3, which takes place in Thailand, premiered on HBO with a house-like beat that gradually builds. Veer revealed TikTok and YouTube were major influences during his creative process. 

“I think that the best song I heard in the last few years that I can remember is people harmonizing to a cat on TikTok,” Veer told Variety. “There’s a cat, and somebody put some piano and then some girls started harmonizing, and then there’s all these versions harmonizing this cat, it’s super moving and so spontaneous and fresh that this is grabbing a lot more my attention than super-produced pop music.”

“I’m a fan of pop music, but it feels like it’s been a while that I feel like something has surprised me,” he continued. “So I’ve been looking a lot into these eight-second bits of music that people [are] putting together and harmonizing a cat or stupid, silliest things.”

“To me, it’s like a gold mine, it’s just moving to me,” Veer added. “It feels like you are actually in contact with a person.”

Fans of The White Lotus were divided when they heard the new theme song with one viewer describing the new intro in a comment on YouTube as “dark and mysterious,” while another noted that “it fits the vibe perfectly.”

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For those who weren’t initially wowed, the music may grow on them over the 8 episodes despite not following in the footsteps of the previous two seasons with the use of distinctive voices. 

According to Screen Rant, Veer hasn’t mentioned any Thai influences but the new intro song aligns with the themes creator Mike White teased the season will explore.

“I was thinking it’d be cool to do something about religion, God, and spirituality,” White told Forbes. “Thailand is, you know, a Buddhist country and there’s a lot of Buddhist concepts that I thought would be interesting to explore.”

The White Lotus airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and Max.