• Composed by Amelia Warner
• Lakeshore / 40m

Directed by John Patrick Shanley and based on his own play, Wild Mountain Thyme is a romantic drama set in Ireland in which an old farmer decides to leave his farm to his American nephew (Jon Hamm) rather than his very Irish son (Jamie Dornan) – much to the chagrin of his neighbouring farmer Emily Blunt. The film became a bit of an internet sensation when the trailer came out because of the proliferation of Irish stereotypes and less-than-authentic-sounding accents. The score is by Amelia Warner, who received much praise for Mary Shelley a few years ago – and it’s really very lovely.

I guess it sounds essentially exactly like you’d expect the score for an Irish romantic drama to sound – there’s a lovely, lilting main theme introduced in “Welcome to Ireland” with swooning strings complete with Gaelic accompaniment; bittersweet comedy in tracks like “Cemetery”; the occasional Irish jig (including one by Brian Byrne, “Shanley’s Delight”, which is quite delightful); more urgent drama as the romance is threatened in “The Phone Call” and “Open the Shutters”; and the inevitable sweeping finale, “The End”. It’s all very pleasant and very easy to listen to, augmented by a few songs (including two versions of the folk song whose title inspired the film’s – this is arguably at least one too many – and an original one, co-written by Warner and sung by Sinéad O’Connor, “I’ll Be Singing”). It’s really sweet stuff, and bound to be a popular album.

Rating: ***

facebook.com/moviewave | twitter.com/MovieWaveDotNet | amazon.com