Wicker Park Soundtrack To Feature: The Shins, Deathcab For Cutie, Broken Social Scene, Stills

“There’s a magical equation at work with this album, the spark that makes something more than the sum of its parts,” says Lakeshore Records vice-president/general manager Brian McNelis of the soundtrack to “Wicker Park,” which stars Josh Hartnett.  “The film is an obsessive love story, and the soundtrack absolutely captures that feeling – when you listen to it, you’re completely immersed in this very personal, wanting place.”

Listeners are transported to this psychic space by a who’s who of artists, including Stereophonics, The Shins, Death Cab For Cutie, Mazzy Star, The Postal Service, Snow Patrol, Mogwai, Mum and +/- . Rounding out Wicker Park Original Soundtrack (due Aug. 24 on Lakeshore Records) are Lifehouse, Broken Social Scene, The Stills, The Legends, Jaime Wyatt, Mates Of State, Aqualung and Johnette Napolitano and Danny Lohner (on a cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist”).

 “Wicker Park” director Paul McGuigan and music supervisor Liza Richardson sought not only to select songs that suggested the thematic content of the film but that also presented a unified sonic experience.  “The soundtrack is amazingly cohesive,” attests McNelis.  “The sound is consistently ethereal, ephemeral, cool and always romantic.  All the songs have a yearning, emotional gravity; they flow together seamlessly.”

McNelis is particularly excited about The Postal Service’s revelatory interpretation of “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),” originally recorded by Phil Collins. The lead track from Wicker Park, it’s another example of what he considers the serendipity at play in the creation of the soundtrack: “It is truly an alignment of the stars to have the theme from a movie about obsessive love from 20 years ago [1984’s “Against All Odds”] – that also happened to be a #1 hit and is The Postal Service’s first soundtrack contribution – on this record.  When I reached out to the band’s label about getting something from them for Wicker Park, they said, “We have this non-album track; it’s a cover of a pop song called ‘Against All Odds.’  I was floored.  I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’  For me, personally, that’s the crown jewel of this album.”

Something similar transpired with the Snow Patrol cut.  McNelis continues: “The ‘Wicker Park’ soundtrack was pretty much done when I got a call from a music publisher about a completely unrelated matter.  I mentioned the album to him and he said, ‘Let me send you this song that would be perfect for that.’  So he sends it to me and it’s “How To Be Dead,” which I’d had on infinite repeat in my car for three days. Stuff like that just kept happening on this project.”

TRACK LISTING:

1     Maybe Tomorrow - Stereophonics    

2     Everybody Is Somebody (Exclusive song written for soundtrack) - Lifehouse    

3     A Movie Script Ending (Exclusive unreleased acoustic version) – Death Cab for Cutie

4     How to Be Dead - Snow Patrol    

5     Lover's Spit - Broken Social Scene    

6     Retour A Vega (Unreleased track) - The Stills    

7     Flowers in December - Mazzy Star    

8     When the Day Is Done - The Legends    

9     When I Goosestep (Rare, non-album track) - The Shins    

10    Light Switch – Jaime Wyatt

11    These Days (Rare, non-album track) - Mates of State    

12    All I Do (Film love theme) - +/-    

13    We Have a Map of the Piano - Mum    

14    Against All Odds (Rare, non-album track) - Postal Service    

15    Strange and Beautiful - Aqualung    

16    I Know You Are But What Am I? - Mogwai    

17    The Scientist (Exclusive cover recorded for soundtrack) - Johnette Napolitano &Danny Lohner    

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