Screamworks Records releases Conrad Pope's score for the movie The Presence. The film is a darkly romantic ghost story about a woman who travels to an isolated cabin where she finds herself stalked by an apparition who has come to inhabit her space as his own. With the unexpected arrival of the woman's boyfriend, the dark spirit's haunting grows more obsessive. Soon the woman begins to exhibit weirdly irrational behaviour as the thin line between sanity and possession begins to unravel...

On balance Conrad Pope's music for The Presence represents a beautiful score. However, I had one issue with it: I couldn't help but be constantly reminded of Alexandre Desplat's beautiful score for Birth - to the point when I started to wonder if this was the movie's original temp soundtrack and the director had requested Pope write something as close as possible.

If you own the score to Birth then I suggest you listen to 'Prologue' and then compare it to 'Mr. Browman Arrives' on this album. To me they are incredibly similar in style. In addition I got a hint of Richard Marvin's score for Surrogates.

Over the course of this album's 21 tracks, lasting 46 min, 46 sec, there are some emotional segments of music. Of all of these I think 'Revelation' is probably the album's high point.

While by no means an essential purchase, if you're looking for another soundtrack that is subtle and delivers some beautiful themes, then you might like to check this out.

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Darren Rea