CD REVIEW - THE BOYS ARE BACK


The Boys Are Back
Music by Hal Lindes & Various Artists
Silva Screen Records SILCD1304 (UK)
19 Tracks 49:36 mins

On 18th January, Silva Screen release the soundtrack to Scott Hicks' Australia-set drama, The Boys Are Back, with a performance from Clive Owen that is already attracting Oscar buzz. The film is already being described as Hicks' best since 1996's Oscar-nominated Shine.
The album is a mix of songs and score, with numbers by Sigur Ros, Ray LaMontagne, Elbow, Mayfield, Carney and France's first lady, Carla Bruni, who does her best to murder the classic "You Belong To Me."
As for the score, there are a dozen tracks by Hal Lindes, so I suppose we really can't complain. Lindes, a former guitarist with Dire Straits, not surprisingly provides a guitar-based score, having been chosen for the film by the director who, on scouting locations in South Australia, became influenced by the subdued guitar music he was hearing on the radio.
The album kicks off with Lindes' title track, a flowing, dramatic piece for guitar and strings; his score continuing with the upbeat "Water Fight." "Joe & Laura" is a warm and simple melody, opening on guitar, but later joined by strings; and "Katy's Garden" is spare and anxious. A number of brief guitar mood pieces follow, the longest of which is the sad "Paddington Farewell but, sadly, none of them really amount to much, before we again have anything of substance with a reprise of the title theme; Lindes' contribution ending with another brief guitar solo, the sad "Don't Abandon Us Now - Revisited."
Go to www.silvascreenmusic.com/ishop/299/Various/326760/The-Boys_Are-Back.aspx for samples and to order your copy of the album.