Cristóbal Tapia de Veer (Smile, Babygirl)  is the composer for the first three seasons of HBO’s The White Lotus, but he will not be working on the fourth season. According to Variety, Veer is leaving the series due to creative issues with Mike White (School of Rock, Enlightened), the series creator. 

Tapia de Veer spoke about his decision to leave in an interview with the New York Times. According to Tapia de Veer, creative tensions between him and The White Lotus White had been brewing since season one but reached a breaking point during season three’s production. Tapia de Veer’s eerie theme, with its haunting sounds and signature “ooh-loo-loo-loo” chorus, helped define the show’s unsettling atmosphere in the first two seasons. However, the chorus was removed in season three, leaving fans confused and highlighting the deepening artistic divide between the composer and White.

Tapia de Veer went on to say White wanted the theme song to feel like “background music … a song that is more like something you would listen to in Ibiza, in some clubby place with a chill, sexy vibe.” The direction the theme song went for season three was polarizing amongst fans. 

Tapia told NYT “I texted the producer and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give them the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway,” continuing, “He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that — he wasn’t happy about that.”

When Times  asked Tapia de Veer about White’s reaction to his decision, he responded by saying “He says a lot of things, but I can’t really talk about that. There was a French movie, La Cage Aux Folles. You know how there’s Albin, which is like the star, and there’s Renato, who is the producer who is always taking care that Albin doesn’t lose his mind about something, because Albin is the diva and Renato is the guy who is trying to make everything work. To me, the show felt very much like that.”

The finale of season three will premiere on HBO Max on April 5.