Lakeshore Records release the soundtrack album to The Motel Life. The movie is a searing and profound examination of brotherhood set in the timeless Sierra Nevadan frontier. Frank and Jerry Lee are brothers who get by on telling fantastic stories and creating rich illustrations. When Jerry Lee is involved in a hit-and-run accident, the brothers are forced across the state to the home of Frank’s old flame, Annie. While they seem safe from the law, Jerry Lee’s instability and all-consuming guilt render their future increasingly uncertain...

The majority of the tracks on this album are made up of David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia's score. While the duo provide the most music it's 50/50 between these tracks and the various artist songs. The album contains 28 tracks (1 hr, 02 min), 18 (33 min) of which are Holmes/Ciancia compositions.

The duos main theme (which appears in tracks including 'Fighter Pilots', 'Mother’s Message' and 'Jerry Dies') is quite a sweet, sad little tune. But other than that there's nothing very memorable. That's not to say this is a dull score, far from it. It's just that the themes are very subtle. In addition the various artist tracks cover several music genres including indie, country and blues. Most of these I could have done without, but 'Give ‘Em Hell' (Little Hurricane) and 'The Boyfriends' (Richmond Fontaine) are tracks I'll probably listen to again.

While personally I probably won't listen to this album again for pleasure, this will no doubt be warmly welcomed by those that enjoyed the movie.

Track Listing

01 - 'Fighter Pilots' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia (feat. Stephen Dorff and Emile Hirsch)
02 - 'Fit To Be Tied' - Jonathan Clay
03 - Mother’s Message - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
04 - 'Roll ‘Em Dice' - Buddy Stuart
05 - 'Jerry Shoots Himself' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
06 - 'Frank Runs To Hospital' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
07 - 'Oil Can' - Joe D’Augustine
08 - 'Frank Reads Postcards' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
09 - 'Denny’s House' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
10 - 'Reprise to Childhood' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
11 - 'They Killed John Henry' - Justin Townes Earle
12 - 'Frank Packs Drawings' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
13 - 'Leaving the Motel' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
14 - 'Mr. Mudd And Mr. Gold' - Townes Van Zandt
15 - 'Leaving Town' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
16 - 'Pirate Story' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
17 - 'Give ‘Em Hell' - Little Hurricane
18 - 'Reverse Harmonics' - Joe D’Augustine
19 - 'Dark Horse' - The Long Wives
20 - 'Annie and Frank Walk' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
21 - 'Shower' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
22 - 'Tell Me a Story' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
23 - 'Frank Meets Annie' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
24 - 'Wait' - The Kills
25 - 'Frank Rejects Annie' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
26 - 'Jerry Dies' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
27 - 'Aftermath' - David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia
28 - 'The Boyfriends' - Richmond Fontaine

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Darren Rea