Various Artists
Album: Lawless (OST)
Label: Sony Classical
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.lawless-film.com

Having scripted the uncompromising Prohibition-era crime thriller, it seems wholly appropriate that Nick Cave should compose the original score with Bad Seed Warren Ellis and oversee a soundtrack that includes Emmylou Harris, Mark Lanegan, Willie Nelson and 85-year-old gen-u-ine hillbilly throwback Ralph Stanley.

Rather than seek out authentic bluegrass from the early radio days, Cave and Ellis have pulled off a clever trick by co-opting more recent and placing in a collection of singular vocal chords. Thus, Emmylou Harris cloaks Cave/Ellis orginals like Fire in the Blood and Cosmonaut in her distinctive otherworldy tone and Lanegan rasps characteristically and characterfully on Link Wray's Fire and Brimstone and Beefheart's Sure Nuff.

The song is also tackled to superb effect by Ralph Stanley, as is the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat whose Lou Reed reportedly shed a tear when he heard the veteran's beguiling take on the material.

Having peppered Bad Seeds' songs with references to and characters from the era for years, Cave and Ellis conjure a wonderfully piquant soundtrack that forms an integral part of the film whether or not you hear it with the pictures it was written for.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk