New, diverse Twilight sound
On Nov. 18, the pubescent ride that is the Twilight Saga will begin to come to an end. The recent release of its soundtrack, however, foreshadows a potentially successful beginning to an end.
More stylistically diverse than previous soundtracks, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1 certainly appeals to a broader variety of listeners. Though of the 15 songs on the album, four belong to unsigned artists, the soundtrack also includes more recognized artists, most notably Bruno Mars.
According to breakingdawnmovie.org, "For the latest installment, Alexandra Patsavas, owner of Chop Shop Music Supervision, says she and her Chop Shop team of seven people weeded through 2,000 song submissions, then worked with director Bill Condon and editor Virginia Katz to decide on the best fits."
The final product of this highly selective process is thematically consistent. Each song of the movie's soundtrack relates to love, its woes, change and death. The album's spectrum reaches from lead single, Bruno Mars' melancholy pop track "It Will Rain," to the more Twilight-typical indie track "Endtapes" by the Joy Formidable. Similar to Mars' previous hit "Grenade," "It Will Rain" possesses dramatic lyrics that reveal romantic anguish, complementing the plot of Breaking Dawn-Part I. The soft bass guitar of "Endtapes" achieves the same effect.
Iron & Wine's "Flightless Bird, American Mouth (Wedding Version)" reprised from the original 2008 soundtrack is likely to accompany the wedding of the movie's main characters. The soft, raspy voice and the light piano accompaniment bleed romance. This new version, contrasting from its original, well represents the change in relationship between the two leads.
Though an appealing soundtrack cannot compensate for a simplistic plot or poor acting, it has definitely increased hype for the midnight release of part one of the final chapter of the Twilight saga.
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