INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2013)

If, by any stroke of luck, Joel and Ethan Coen came across this humble review, this writer would like to thank them for soothing his soul with their reflective film about a singer songwriter who struggles to find himself in 1960s New York. The soundtrack album produced by T Bone Burnett and the brothers is a godsend too, with its 42 minutes of folk music which has some miraculously calming effect.

Like the film, the album kicks off with the titular Llewyn Davis performing the mournful “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me”. Oscar Isaac, who plays the protagonist, croons the tune with so much melancholy, you can imagine yourself sitting in a smoky club listening to his woes. The tune that follows is “Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song)”, Isaac’s duet with English musician Marcus Mumford, best known as the lead singer of the band Mumford & Sons.

One highlight on this highly recommended album is “Five Hundred Miles”, a familiar tune covered by the film’s stars Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan and Stark Sands. The comforting vocals of the performers, accompanied by the lovely guitar strums, will make the most stressed individual at ease. The wacky “Please Mr. Kennedy”, written by Ed Rush, George Cromarty, Burnett, Timberlake and the Coen brothers, is a creative piece of work that was unfortunately ruled out by the Academy in the Best Original Song category – no thanks to of the strict rules due to the connection to a 1961 song of the same name.

Isaac, who was born to a Cuban father and a Guatemalan mother, isn’t just an actor. The 33 year old is also a singer, having played lead guitar and sung vocals for his band The Blinking Underdogs during his days in Miami. It’s no wonder then, that he effortlessly performs the songs on this soundtrack. “Green, Green Rocky Road”, “The Death of Queen Jane” and “The Shoals of Herring” are just some of the tunes which you’ll fall in love with.

This soundtrack will grow on you, and will have you putting it on repeat mode – simply because one can always rely on music to find solace in life. 

ALBUM RATING:

Recommended Track:  (1) Hang Me, Oh Hang Me

Review by John Li