Milan Records releases Jay Wadley's original score for Driveways, a 20 track (30 min, 07 sec) album of subtle piano and string ensemble compositions. The film tells the story of Kath, a single mother, who travels with her shy eight-year-old son Cody to Kathy's late sister's house which they plan to clean and sell. As Kathy realizes how little she knew about her sister, Cody develops an unlikely friendship with Del, the Korean War vet and widower who lives next door. Over the course of a summer, and with Del's encouragement, Cody develops the courage to come out of his shell and, along with his mother, finds a new place to call home...

The music for Driveways is one with a huge amount of heart and soul poured into the compositions. It's a subtle, beautiful soundtrack that acts as an integral part of the movie.

Talking about the score, composer Jay Wadley said: "In my score for Andrew Ahn’s Driveways, I took an understated, paired down approach with textured analogue production on a felted grand piano and chamber string ensemble. The film is a delicate and subtle piece, so Andrew and I felt the score needed to take extra care not to step on or get in the way of story and character. As I began the creative process, my way into Cody and Del's sound was through an attempt to capture the mood of childhood experiences like tooling around in the yard and on the porch during long, lazy, hot summer afternoons. I find a certain dreaminess, comfort, and melancholy to those days that informed the music’s overall tone and character"

There are recurring themes, played out as string and piano duets, which are used to echo Del and Cody’s friendship. These melodies blossom and mature throughout the film, echoing the changing relationship of the two characters.

It work beautifully as a standalone piece of music in its own right, but you can still enjoy this score without having seen the movie.

8

Darren Rea