EXCLUSIVE: J.J. Abrams and Laura Karpman Drop Tracks From HBO Max’s Duster ’70s Crime Thriller!

August 7, 2025

Soundtracks, Scores and More Staff

In anticipation of the release of Duster—Original Series Soundtrack, we have the exclusive first listen of the Duster Theme by J.J. Abrams, and “Nina’s Theme” by Oscar® and Grammy®-nominated, and five-time Emmy® award winning composer Laura Karpman (American Fiction). Karpman merges propulsive dramatic orchestration with 70’s funk creating a vintage-sounding backdrop to the nostalgic thriller series. Creator J.J. Abrams created and performed the series’ main theme. Duster starring Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson is streaming now on HBO Max.  Listen to the exclusive tracks below.

Notes Karpman: “The music from ‘Duster’ is an homage to the great Lalo Schifrin as well as the funkiest grooves from the 70s. I had a blast working on this with JJ and Latoya. Special shout out to my fabulous muse, flutist Elena Pinderhughes.”

Duster is now streaming on HBO Max.

Pre-save the album: [Choose Your Service]

Listen to “Duster Theme” by J.J. Abrams:

Listen to Nina’s Theme by Laura Karpman:

Track List
01. Duster Theme – J.J. Abrams
02. Nina’s Theme
03. Chase
04. FBI Tour
05. Panda Ring
06. Royce
07. Father
08. No Deal
09. Follow Him
10. Top Dog
11. Outta My House
12. You Pumped His Heart
13. My Father Worked for Saxton
14. Pops
15. Scram
16. Breen
17. Cavalry 
18. Nixon
19. Snooping
20. Anagram
21. Shoot Out
22. Meet Nina St. James
23. Cowboy Talks
24. On The Move
25. For Our Kids
26. Duster End Credits

ABOUT LAURA KARPMAN
Oscar® and Grammy®-nominated, five-time Emmy® award winning composer LAURA KARPMAN creates powerful, imaginative scores that push the boundaries of storytelling. Her bold, incandescent works span film, television, theater, interactive media and live performance, reflecting an audaciously creative, prodigious fresh spirit. Karpman collaborates with some of the most renowned filmmakers of our time, including J.J. Abrams, Kevin Feige, Steven Spielberg, Cord Jefferson, Nia DaCosta, Alex Gibney, Misha Green, Rory Kennedy, Kasi Lemmons, Laura Nix and Sam Pollard.
 
The last two years have been especially prolific for Laura including the upcoming release of “Captain America: Brave New World,”  and other recent acclaimed projects such as “American Fiction” (Amazon MGM), starring Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown, written, directed and produced by Cord Jefferson, which has garnered five Oscar® nominations including Best Picture, and for which Karpman has received her first Oscar nomination for her original score and for which she was Grammy® nominated for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, “The Marvels” (Marvel Studios), “Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed” (Max) for which she was Emmy® nominated, “What If…?” now in its third season (Marvel Television for Disney+), “Ms. Marvel” (Marvel Television for Disney+) and “61st Street” (The CW),  and two unannounced video game projects.  
 
Karpman wrote the original music for the upcoming 2025 Max television series “Duster” created by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, starring Rachel Hilson and Josh Holloway. Other upcoming projects include a musical based on Dorothy Arzner’s MGM film, “Dance Girl Dance.” Concert music premieres include the world premiere performance of “Balls,” an opera chronicling Billie Jean King’s epic 1973 “Battle of the Sexes”’ tennis match, with words by New York Times writer Gail Collins, and a commissioned work for the Juilliard School. Karpman was proud to have her theme from “The Marvels” performed at the closing night of the BBC Proms.
 
Karpman’s scores span HBO’s acclaimed hit “Lovecraft Country,” the music for the recently Oscar®-nominated documentary short film “The Only Girl in the Orchestra,” the Oscar®-nominated documentary short film “Walk Run Cha-Cha” and the docuseries “Why We Hate.” Other recent work includes “Miss Virginia,” “Set It Up,” “Paris Can Wait,” “The Cotton Club Encore,” “Step,” “Black Nativity,” “Underground,” “LA’s Finest” and the Peabody Award-winning series “Craft in America.” Karpman has recently received two additional Emmy® nominations for “Ms. Marvel,” as well as “Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed,” and won an HMMA award for “The Marvels.” For her “American Fiction” score, to date she has received Academy Award®, GRAMMY, SCL, NAACP Image Award, and HMMA nominations, as well as inclusion in the 2024 BAFTA Longlist.
 
Other awards include a 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from “She Rocks,” a Critics’ Choice Award for her song “Jump” (from the film “Step”), co-written with frequent collaborators Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson, sung by Cynthia Erivo. Her animated work includes “Sitara,” directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, executive produced by Darla Anderson and Gloria Steinem, and her Annie-nominated score for “Monkey’s Tale” and three seasons of “What If…?” for Marvel Television. Her celebrated scores for interactive media and blockbuster video games include “Guardians of Middle Earth,” “Everquest 2,” “Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “Project Spark” and “Kinect Disneyland Adventures.”
 
Across concert halls, Karpman is well known for her Grammy® Award-winning album, “Ask Your Mama,” a multimedia opera based on the iconic cycle of poems by renowned author Langston Hughes. For this Carnegie Hall commission, Karpman collaborated with The Roots, soprano Jessye Norman, performer De’Andre Aziza, and jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon. Other notable works include “All American,” commissioned and performed by The Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; “Brass Ceiling,” commissioned and recorded by the U.S. Army Band; “And Still We Dream,” commissioned by Lyric Opera of Kansas City, honoring 100 years of suffrage; “Wilde Tales,” commissioned by Glimmerglass Festival, and a pandemic opera for Opera Theatre of St. Louis with libretto by Taura Stinson & Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum. 
 
Karpman is a fierce champion for DEI in Hollywood. After founding the Alliance for Women Film Composers, she was elected the first female Governor in the Music Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. During her two consecutive three-year terms, she implemented sweeping change, facilitating the admission of dozens of underrepresented voices, co-founded the Academy Women’s Initiative, co-chaired the LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, helped to create the Code of Conduct, and updated the bylaws with more inclusive, representative language. Her leadership in creating opportunity and advocating for inclusion is unparalleled.
 
Karpman serves as a mentor and is on the advisory board for the Chanel/Tribeca Through Her Lens Program. She received a doctorate from The Juilliard School, where she studied with 20th-century icon Milton Babbitt.
 
She lives and works in Los Angeles with her wife, composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, their son and two dogs.

Watch the trailer for Duster: Season 1:

Set in the 1970s Southwest, Duster explores the life of a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate that goes from dangerous to wildly, stupidly dangerous when a tenacious young agent comes into town hellbent on taking his crime family down.