Dan Mangan and Jesse Zubot's score for Hector and the Search for Happiness is released through Varèse Sarabande Records. The movie tells the story of Hector, a quirky psychiatrist who has become increasingly tired of his humdrum life. As he tells his girlfriend, Clara, he feels like a fraud: he hasn't really tasted life, and yet he's offering advice to patients who are just not getting any happier. So Hector decides to break out of his deluded and routine driven life. Armed with buckets of courage and child-like curiosity, he embarks on a global quest in hopes of uncovering the elusive secret formula for true happiness...

Over the course of this album's 22 tracks (56 min, 53 sec) Dan Mangan and Jesse Zubot showcase how varied and versatile their musical tastes and styles are. Normally, this would be a thing to celebrate, and I'm sure in the movie it works incredibly well to set the scene for wherever in the world Hector is... But, listened to as a musical journey outside the film, it just feels a little flat and disjointed.

One for fans of the movie only.

Track listing:

01 - 'Vessel (Extended Film Version)' - Performed by Dan Mangan + Blacksmith
02 - 'Cumulonimbus'
03 - 'Jude In The Mountains'
04 - 'About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All (Instrumental Version)' - Performed by Dan Mangan
05 - 'Prayer Flags (Hallucinations)'
06 - 'Cumulonimbus (Newport, '63)'
07 - 'Room Service' - Performed by Parov Stelar
08 - 'Tic Toc'
09 - 'Agnes/Corked'
10 - 'Jude'
11 - 'Cage Rattle'
12 - 'Serelem' - Performed by Abraham's Seed
13 - 'Ticky'
14 - 'Allah's Holiday' - Performed by Ted Lewis & His Orchestra
15 - 'Prayer Flags (Reality)'
16 - 'Terminal'
17 - 'Baresco's Carjack'
18 - 'Jude In The Booth'
19 - 'Never Loser' - Performed by Abraham's Seed
20 - 'Lost Keys'
21 - 'Hearts Ne Kotoko' - Performed by Hedzoleh Soundz
22 - 'About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All' - Performed by Dan Mangan

5

Darren Rea