After moviescramble’s recent review of Drive we have a listen to the accompanying soundtrack.
Tracklisting
01 “Nightcall” – Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx
02 “Under Your Spell” – Desire
03 “A Real Hero” – College feat. Electric Youth
04 “Oh My Love” – Riz Ortolani feat. Katyna Ranieri
05 “Tick of the Clock” – The Chromatics
06 “Rubber Head”
07 “I Drive”
08 “He Had a Good Time”
09 “They Broke His Pelvis”
10 “Kick Your Teeth”
11 “Where’s The Deluxe Version?”
12 “See You in Four”
13 “After The Chase”
14 “Hammer”
15 “Wrong Floor”
16 “Skull Crushing”
17 “My Name on a Car”
18 “On The Beach”
19 “Bride of Deluxe”
The soundtrack is split into two parts. Songs from the film are featured in the first part. The second comprises the score, written by Cliff Martinez. The overall mood of the film is conveyed by the visuals and the soundtrack working in tandem. The effect is very effective. They compliment each other very well.
The five songs are similar in that they all have a retro 80’s vibe about them. All with synthesized instrumentation and imposing, serious vocals. Most of the tracks have the input of Johnny Jewel a producer/mixer/performer. When listened to during the film they evoke a certain mood and ups the cool factor of the film. Outside of the film, they are still very listenable. Apparently one of Johnny Jewel’s bands, The Chromatics Night Drive album, was the music that Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn listened to while checking out shooting locations. It was the sounds from this that set the direction for the soundtrack as a whole.
The score is in a similar vein to the songs. The composer, Cliff Martinez, was given the songs and asked to produce a soundtrack that would compliment them. This has been achieved. The score is sparse and ethereal. It is not the sort of score that I feel would be essential listening to on its own. Some tracks are a bit too minimal for that. Still when coupled with the images the tracks are effect is superb.
Originally the score was to be written and produced by Johnny Jewel. He was the choice of both Gosling and Refn. As the scope of the film got bigger it was decided that the score should be done by Cliff Martinez. Johnny Jewel was understandably frustrated, commenting that his score was superior to Cliff Martinez’s. Rather than scrapping the score, it has been worked into a new album under the band name Symmetry. The album, called Themes for an imaginary film, was released in January 2012. After listening to the OST track down the other album and try to imagine what the film would have been like with the alternate score.
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