Plaza Mayor Company Ltd release the original score to Irati, by composers Aránzazu Calleja and Maite Arroitajauregi. The film follows Irati, a young girl who will guide a group of Christian and Muslim warriors through a journey in an ancient mythological world in an attempt to recover a lost treasure...

Aránzazu Calleja and Maite Arroitajauregi's score for Irati is one that you're either going to be completely on board with, or not really enjoy. Several of these 35 tracks (1 hr, 12 min, 39 sec) are made up of music that has a very strong Celtic feel. Personally, I really enjoyed what was on offer here, even if the majority of the tracks were a little too brief, meaning the building of themes and set pieces felt a little lacking.

There's a choral element to quite a few of the tracks, helping to transport us back in time to the 8th century. And elsewhere there's bangs and squeaks from the orchestra, delivering more of a horror film atmosphere (in tracks like 'Basoaren Mina'). All in all, it's a bit of a mixed bag which will, depending on your point of view, be the album's strength or weakness.

Discussing the score, director Paul Urkijo says: "The key of the soundtrack of Irati was to underscore the duality within the story. On one hand, it had to be epic, wide and christian, supporting the concept of medieval movies. On the other side, it should represent the world of the pagan animism, magical and obscure, of the basque mythology. The first part is more classical, more orchestral. The second part more is suggestive, telluric and experimental. The two worlds converge in the encounter of the two characters, each one with its own melody, that end merging into a unique theme. All this through sounds, textures and themes which bring us to the 8th century. The song 'Izena Duena Bada', as a traditional copla, talks about the genesis and the pantheon of the basque's mythological world collected in hundreds of stories transmitted orally. Mari, supreme goddess, mother earth, protects and punishes her daughters and sons justly. A world full of magic deities that will continue to exist as long as someone remember their names."

The music is perfect for the movie but whether it works as a standalone album in its own right is subjective.

6

Darren Rea