Tracey Thorn – Songs from The Falling

Tracey Thorn is an English singer-songwriter best known as one half of disbanded duo Everything But the Girl. Now attempting to become an established solo artist, she has been trusted with crafting the soundtrack to Maisie Williams’ film The Falling. Movie albums can be tricky things to judge: do they appear as unnatural attempts to forge together sounds that compliment a film, or does the music reflect the artist’s own musical style? We tracked down Thorn’s mini-album to discover if it could stand on its own feet as an enjoyable piece of independent music, or if it sounded out of place without the backdrop of the associated film.

Follow Me Down opens the album in a manner that doesn’t scream “easy listening”. While the music has a soothing ambiance and the delicate instrumentals manage to complement Thorn’s soft vocals, a continuous scraping woodblock adds an unnecessarily surreal and rather grating quality to the song that does it no favours overall. Others, like It Was Always Me and All the Seasons, meanwhile help to create a melancholic tone that never leaves the album.

Although the tenderness of the collection is intriguing at first, it does grow tiresome rather quickly. Though the basic nature of every song may sound pleasurable if divided over a two-hour film, when the record is listened to in full, it runs out of steam. It is a self-reflecting and sombre selection of tracks that, unfortunately, constantly force you to the brink of sleep. It isn’t offensive, it just lacks an interesting spark.

Keir Smith

Songs from The Falling was released on 24^th April 2015, for further information or to order the album visit here.

Watch the video for Little Things here: