Ben Lee & Jessica Chapnik - The Square Soundtrack (Album)
Mildly depressing, hauntingly real, break out your hot chocolates, Tim Tams and doonas when listening to this one. The soundtrack to newest Aussie flick The Square is a delicious compilation of music crafted together with the writing of Ben Lee and the performance of Jessica Chapnik.
I’ll confess, The Square premiered last night (31st of July 2008) and I haven’t managed to see it yet. I am keen to see the drama screenplay by Joel and Nash Edgerton and feel that I’ve caught the hype around the movie enough to critique the soundtrack.
This compilation of music could just as easily be the soundtrack to any relationship. The euphoric stage where lovers first meet; Feed the Fire. Lets get to know each other a bit better; This Life Is Sweet.The first inevitable hurdle; The Suburbs of Love. Can it work out and be overcome? That’s How Lovers Pray. Or has too much hurt come over? Unloved Letters.Either way Why Don’t you Come Over?
I found myself mildly offended with Let Go of Everything,and I was fairly unimpressed with the repriseLet Go,at the end of the album. I try to be the eternal optimist so I really gave this song a few turns over to try and sink into it a bit more, however I just can’t agree that falling in love means you need to “Let go of everything you are, it doesn’t matter”. The only saving grace of the song is the construction of the music complimented with Jessica Chanik’s voice blended with a gentle piano melody.
Sand. I love it. There is no other phrase as adequate to describe how I feel about this song. Bouncy and ‘chick’ I was listening from the start, then Jessica Chapnik opened with the lines “I wanted to get found, so I hid. I started smoking, just so I could quit, and I did. I got my street smarts from playing dumb. I got real serious about having fun” and I was smitten.
The Solution is the most innately 'Australian' on the album, with its alternative country sound and its ‘true blue’ lyrics like “Don’t waste it on language, it’s just a tongue sandwich, another soft way to attack…This solution I’ll find…” its hard to know whether to hug a koala or lock elbows with a mate and take a turn around the dance floor.
