CD REVIEW - THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE


The Time Traveler's Wife
Music by Mychael Danna
DECCA 2716582 (EU)
23 Tracks 55:14 mins

Mychael Danna used to be one of the more experimental composers around, often utilising a whole range of ethnic instruments, sometimes in situations and projects you would not expect to find them. More often than not recently, however, he has produced pretty conventional fare, as is the case with his music for The Time Traveler's Wife, the new romantic fantasy based on Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel of the same name (with a nod towards the short-lived TV show Journeyman, which I am enjoying currently on Sky 3). The film is directed by Robert Schwentke and stars Eric Bana as a man who is subject to episodes of involuntary time travel, and the relationship with the woman (Rachel McAdams) he meets as a little girl on one of this trips and eventually marries.
Back to the CD, and for the most part Danna's score is light and romantic, as one would expect, even buoyant at times, often with piano, flute, woodwind and string solos; though there is a more melancholy side to the music as well, reflecting the difficulties Bana's time travel inevitably have on his family life.
Electronics join in for the more fantastical moments in the film, sometimes providing an ethereal quality to the score, at others used quite disturbingly; and there's somewhat unconventional percussion utilised in tracks like "Testing;" but these moments are rare.
All in all then, it's a pretty likeable effort, which makes for pleasant and undemanding listen on disc, and I am quite sure perfectly serves the film's mix of fantasy and romance.
The CD also features a couple of vocals, Joy Division's "Love Will Tear us Apart," and the infinitely more listenable "Broken" by Lifehouse.