To describe Christopher Young as chameleonic is something of an understatement. For some time considered at his best when writing for horror movies, Young has escaped those shackles and is now renowned as being one of the most versatile composers in the Hollywood film music mainstream. He now gets attached to high-quality projects as a matter of course and The Shipping News is one of his biggest to date.

While the movie has attracted surprisingly lukewarm reviews as a whole, Young's score stands out in many critics' eyes as one of the undoubted highlights of the movie. He's given us horror, jazz and touching drama on numerous occasions, but never before has he offered us such a light and breezy score as The Shipping News. Opening with a powerhouse emotional theme (though don't read that to mean it's Hollywood schmaltz) the score never really looks back.

There's Irish jigs ("Dutsi Jig"), a wonderfully melancholy romantic theme ("One Kite Better"/"Alwyn Spires") and some slightly more authoritative material ("Seal Flipper Pie"). The Shipping News is simply delightful and was deservedly nominated for a Golden Globe. Up next for Young is a kids' film from Disney - the world has truly gone mad. But in the process it has finally rewarded one of the hardest-working and most talented composers in Hollywood and the fact that he's now on the A-list is wonderful news.

As a footnote, this score marks the first release from Miramax Records, a new label that will release scores from (guess what) Miramax movies. Hopefully this will provide us with plenty of great film music in the years to come, from Young and others. If they all live up to The Shipping News, we've got good times ahead. (The realist in me knows - they won't.) It's certainly one of the finest scores of 2001 and to be brutally frank I'm quite glad that Rachel Portman didn't team up with Lasse Hallstrom for the third movie in a row because this marks a welcome change of pace and avoids all cliché and schmaltz.

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