Plaza Mayor Company Ltd release Adrien Casalis' original score for La Tête Froide. In order to make ends meet, 45 year old Marie traffics cartons of cigarettes between France and Italy, with the help of his lover Alex, a border policeman. When Marie meets Souleymane, a young refugee, ready to do anything to join her little sister, she embarks on a journey more dangerous than she had imagined...

Atmospheric and haunting is probably the best way to describe this score. The album contains 11 tracks (31 min, 15 sec) and while it took me quite a few listens to get into, the time was well spent.

Discussing the project, composer Adrien Casalis says: "From the preparation of the film, Stéphane's [director Stéphane Marchetti] universe was familiar to me, we shared many references and music had an important place in his film. Very quickly, it was obvious that the music had to reflect the journey of the main character. The music is based on a theme, which we find at key moments in the story. Each time this theme is in a different musical arrangement, sometimes making it unshakable, sometimes extremely vulnerable. In parallel with this theme, work on sound texture was developed to translate the roughness and hardness of the environment. This sound identity is consisting of experiments, string instruments recorded on tapes and cassettes, as well as of different analog synthesizers."

While it's not going to appeal to everyone, and it certainly works better when matched with the onscreen visuals, there is enough here to appeal to those who enjoy atmospheric scores.

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Darren Rea