MovieScore Media release the first film soundtrack of Lithuanian composer Ieva Marija Baranauskaite - a chamber jazz score for the pioneering Baltic drama The Lawyer. Written and directed by Romas Zabarauskas, the film tells the story of gay corporate lawyer Marius whose life drifts away while he is busy teasing his friends and chasing young lovers. When Marius' estranged father dies, his mourning turns to love as the lawyer finds an unanticipated connection with sex-cam worker, Ali - a Syrian refugee stuck in Belgrade...

I was surprised to discover that this was composer Ieva Marija Baranauskaite's debut film score. There's a confidence and stylistic choices that you'd normally only expect to witness in a composer who had been working for several years.

Discussing her approach, Baranauskaite said: "In our conversations, the director often mentioned the elements of the film noir and I liked the concept of telling a contemporary story through the means of the old-time genre. In my work, I always combine genres with each other, hence, as a musical axis of the movie, I chose a combination of chamber jazz, which is typical of neo film noirs, and modern sounds. In order to maintain the integrity of the sound, the compositions were created for four instruments, many of which I played myself. In the film, all the sounding music was recorded live. I collaborated with wonderful saxophonist Stasys Šalaševičius and master of precision, drummer, sound engineer Mykolas Baranauskas who managed with meticulous care in the recording and mixing process to make several instruments sound as orchestral jazz."

There's a strong main theme, which rears its head from time to time. There's probably a few too many instances of music cues and background ambient music to make this an essential purchase for the casual soundtrack collector. However, for it's sheer originality and inventiveness this is certainly an album that's worth seeking out. It's doubtful you'll listen to it for years to come, but if you're after something a little different from the norm this is well worth checking.

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Darren Rea