The Thomas Crown Affair is a highly stylized Steve McQueen thriller (is there any other kind?) that screams late-sixties. In this instance, the impact of Michel Legrand’s “The Windmills of Your Mind,” the main theme song, may well have outlasted the movie itself.

Musically speaking, although the film focuses on intrigue and romance, we chose to play off of the song’s lyrical themes of circles and spirals, presented in a disarming 5/4 time signature and double-tracked vocals, with brief nods to Billy Preston’s “Will it Go Round in Circles,” Arlen and Mercer’s “Old Black Magic,” and John Coltrane’s “Spiral.”