Artist: Broadcast
Release: Berberian Sound Studio OST
Release Date: Out Now
Commissioned for the horror film of the same name ‘Berberian Sound Studio’ is Broadcast’s first film soundtrack and sadly, in likelihood, their final album following the untimely death of singer and talisman Trish Keenan from pneumonia in 2011. Listening to anything posthumously is a pretty unsettling experience and this isn’t any different.
Thankfully this extra disquieting effect is helpful to the full piece, and the soundtrack can only be considered as a full conceptual piece by nature, adding extra tension to an already tense theatrical body of work.
The soundtrack is in essence a sum of other classic soundtracks, wrapped around the frail but elegant frame of Broadcast’s previous material. There’s the striking harpsichord reminiscent of Get Carter, the haunting organ of classic Dracula, the beautiful horror of ‘Tubular Bells’ and so much more much more as well as less known influences like undergeound Italian composers Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai.
With all these influences the soundtrack could risk going into emulation mode, but it avoids this with the sonic experimentation Broadcast were known for across their career. Mellotron, loops and stabs of diegetic sound give each ‘song’, if we can call 40 second tracks that, a flavour that contributes to a collage feel.
In summary ‘Berberian Sound Studio’ would be haunting even without it’s background, taking in the tensest moments of classic cinema soundtracking to create a career best, dare I say it, body of work that can put Broadcast to rest with the dignity the band deserve.
9/10
Reviewer: Martin-John McDonnell
