CD REVIEW - FRANKLYN


Franklyn
Music by Joby Talbot
Silva Screen SILCD1293 (UK)
24 Tracks 47:49 mins

Released tomorrow is Joby Talbot's score for Gerald McMorrow's sci-fi thriller Franklyn, a film that came and went at the UK Box office, with less than favourably reviews. It's good however to have Talbot's music available and nice to see he continues to embrace the film world, having worked in a wide variety of mediums, with many acclaimed concert works to his name.
The album gets underway in grand fashion with the powerful main theme in "Gonna Kill a Man." "Meanwhile City" starts out quite subdued on piano, with first harp joining, then full orchestra, as the music takes us on a tour of the city, with the main theme eventually bursting forth powerfully again, but only briefly, as things turn very noirish, with the piano seeing out the track as it had begun. There's frantic action in "The Catacombs," with flowing piano returning for the almost ethereal "Emilia." The largely menacing "The Clerics" follows, the music continuing coldly and disturbingly in "How Old Was She?" before taking on a melancholy innocence.
Many of the tracks that follow are quite brief at under 2 minutes, and offer much mystery and not a little coldness and threat, but the piano offers forward motion throughout much of the music, again sometimes supported by harp; and the longer "Bad News" has a light and attractive flow to its second half. Other highlights include "Faith Registration Centre," with its flowing mix of east vs west; the uplifting "Trust in God; and the spiritual strings of "David Bursts In" that struggle through the largely threatening music that dominates the track.
The lengthy "Finale" is split into two parts, the largely dissonant opening of which gives way to brief action, then a sense of delicate wonder, which intensifies and shifts to some menacing action; more dissonance giving way to a powerful reprise of the main theme, which surfaces again in all its glory for the "End Titles."
Joby Talbot has impressed me with his work for film thus far. Working in a variety of genres, his music always sounds fresh and interesting, and he could have a long and successful career in motion pictures if that is the path he chooses to continue on.
Available on CD and to download, go to www.silvascreenmusic.com/ishop/299/Joby-Talbot/326099/Franklyn.aspx for further details, to preview tracks and of course to purchase your copy.