The Lorde-curated 'Hunger Games' soundtrack mostly thrills, and makes for a perfect companion to the movie.
This CD cover image released by Universal shows the soundtrack for the film "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1," performed by various artists. (AP Photo/Universal)
Various Artists/ Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
With The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 hitting cinemas, we explore its soundtrack curated by none other than the Grammy award-winning, Kiwi pop sensation Lorde. After covering Tears For Fears' 1985 classic Everybody Wants to Rule the World for the last Hunger Games album, Lorde is tasked with overseeing as well as contributing her own material to the soundtrack to Mockingjay Part 1, the third instalment of the blockbuster franchise. And much like the soundtracks to the Twilight saga, a quick glance at the line-up reveals almost no major top-of-the-charts pop stars, but rather an eclectic mix of slightly left-field, multinational artists. Here, we have British electro-pop songstress Charli XCX, Swedish up-and-comer Tove Lo, Scottish indie-pop Chvrches and, quite surprisingly, the legendary Grace Jones.
The album opens with XOV's Animal, a brooding slow burner that gives us a glimpse of what's to follow (and what can be expected from the film). Next up is Tove Lo's Scream My Name, a pop jam recalling her exploration of the aftermath of heartbreak, Habits (Stay High). "When I'm dead and gone, will they sing about me?/Dead and gone, will they scream my name?" she muses, then sneakily working in that catchy "oh oh" bit from her own hit. Very well played, maam. Tinashé's The Leap keeps the ball rolling with its dark and sensuous R&B beat. Raury's Lost Souls and Bat for Lashes' Plan the Escape share similar quiet aesthetics, and are among the album's standouts.
Our curator Lorde sings on three tracks, Yellow Flicker Beat, Meltdown (featuring Stromae, Pusha T, Q-Tip and Haim), and a mournful cover of Bright Eyes' Ladder Song. Grace Jones' Original Beast is a tribal freakout flecked with a bit of reggae vibe while The Chemical Brothers' This Is Not a Game with R&B crooner Miguel on the vocal duty further strengthens the urban elements of the soundtrack. Charli XCX's Kingdom and Major Lazer's All My Love (featuring pop songstress Ariana Grande) are the two most commercial offerings here. Bright and poppy, the latter sticks out like a sore thumb among the predominantly sinister soundscapes.
As Katniss Everdeen, played by Hollywood darling Jennifer Lawrence, continues to strive for a revolution in the fictional dystopian world depicted in Mockingjay, its soundtrack succeeds in giving the movie that fittingly foreboding edge. Of course, the theme of female empowerment is obvious (the protagonist is a female, after all), but Lorde has done a great job by not going all gung-ho on feminism, pumping the album full of pure oestrogen. This is a relatively cohesive soundtrack anyone, especially fans of the Hunger Games movies, could appreciate and get into.
The Playlist
Young Man & The Sea/ Pla Talay
Up and coming local indie label Tigger Twins has previously impressed us with folk four-piece with a curious name My Life As Ali Thomas, and now they’re treating us with another folk act with an equally great name, Young Man & The Sea. On Pla Talay (Sea Fish), the folk duo tells the unlikely love story between a fish and a seagull over a delicate acoustic guitar (“I’m willing to die amidst the grey sky if only I could be with you for a few ephemeral seconds”). Vocalist Wiracha Daochai puts his skills as a published author to good use with the lyrics that could easily double as a poem.
David Bowie/ Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)
Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) is the only new David Bowie song included on his recently released greatest hits album, Nothing Has Changed. The nearly eight-minute track finds the musical legend going on a free-jazz rampage with the help of New York’s Maria Schneider Orchestra. Given Bowie’s agonised wailing and skronky saxophones, Sue feels mostly experimental. This is definitely one of the most avant-garde moments in his career, which means fans will either love it or hate it.
Mark Ronson (featuring Kevin Parker)/ Daffodils
It’s been four years since UK producer Mark Ronson gave us Record Collection, and now the man is back with his upcoming new record called Uptown Special. Following the Bruno Mars-featured lead single, Daffodils gets the vocal assistance from Kevin Parker of the Aussie psych-rock outfit Tame Impala fame. It’s a well-balanced piece, combining Ronson’s glossy production with Parker’s spacey, slightly lo-fi croon. Apart from Mars and Parker, the album also features a somewhat eclectic range of collaborators from Hudson Mohawke to Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon who contributed to most of the lyrics.
Alanis Morissette/ The Morning
Alanis Morissette has been keeping a low profile of late, but here she’s sharing with us new music in the form of The Morning, which will be the soundtrack to forthcoming documentary about coffee, A Small Section of the World. Joining forces with Costa Rican artist Carlos Vargas, the Canadian chanteuse offers a series of puns and metaphors relating to everyone’s favourite pick-me-up over the string section and percussive elements derived from coffee beans (YouTube the video clip and you’ll see what we mean). The song also acts as a paean to the female movers and shakers of coffee production in Costa Rica.
Mary J Blige/ Right Now
With her new album being called The London Sessions, it’s fitting that the queen of R&B is teaming up with some of the hottest names from across the Atlantic Ocean. Produced by British brotherly duo Disclosure and Sam Smith, Right Now is Blige’s official foray into the electronic territory since she appeared on Disclosure’s sleek smash hit, F For You. The message may be similar (“I’m telling you right now, I’m telling you right now/No, I won’t play this game with you/I’m taking it back now, I’m turning it right round”), but we’re digging the dance-oriented direction she’s heading towards.
