A widely-praised film, Syriana is George Clooney's latest attempt to take over Hollywood's "politicising leading man" role from Warren Beatty, an intelligent thriller set in and around the murky world of the oil industry.  Director Stephen Gagan, who wrote Traffic, turned to the busy Alexandre Desplat for the score.  The composer's rise towards the top of the film music ladder has been swift indeed after his breakthrough pair of scores in 2004 (Birth and Girl with the Pearl Earring), and indeed Syriana is one of seven scores from the composer in 2005.  

Fortunately, he has very much been able to retain his own highly-distinctive style, which is lightyears from the way Hollywood generally likes its films to be scored.  This is heartening indeed (and he hasn't just been doing it on more highbrow movies like Syriana either, with Hostage behind him and Firewall to come).  Syriana is a dark score, one for which the word "dirty" seems strangely appropriate.  Blending middle eastern sounds, modern pop elements and a small orchestra together, Desplat has creating a compelling sound, but one which can be quite hard to sit and listen to for extended periods.  On the plus side, he has taken that most cliched of film music devices, the duduk, and crafted some truly beautiful solos ("Driving in Geneva"); the piano solo version of the main theme which appears half way through the album is exquisite; and some of his Philip Glass-style cellular, repeating phrases are terrific.

However, on occasion Desplat adds electric guitars and industrial percussion to his ensemble and these produce a screechy, awkward sound which has exactly the kind of edgy effect the composer was clearly trying to generate, but which certainly don't make very attractive listening.  These make the album seem rather longer than its 45 minutes and mean it isn't quite the kind of elegant listening experience which people have come to associate with Desplat (though it's worth stressing again, that with a film like this one, it is exactly the right kind of score).  It reminds me a little of Thomas Newman's grungier scores, and indeed some of the synth writing is just a little reminiscent of Cliff Martinez's bleepy score for Traffic (though this score is on a different plane altogether).  It's a finely-crafted piece of music; it just doesn't make such a great album.