Soundtrack Review: Loft (2008)

Posted by Timothy E. RAW

November 21, 2008

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loft mms08020 Soundtrack Review: Loft (2008) This is a review of the motion picture score for Loft by Wolfram De Marco.

“Loft is a score suitably lofty in all its aspirations, and not content to situate itself on the upper floor, it proceeds to bust right through the roof”

A conspiratorial shroud of strings ensnared around the heavy-hearted toll of drums weighed down in secrets, is a memorable and auspicious introduction to Wolfram De Marco. The composer has unveiled what is possibly the thriller score of the year and in the process set himself up as the next in line to wield a baton for many a future Hollywood blockbuster.

According to IMDB, this Belgian film, still awaiting a UK/US release is the story of five close friends, all of them married, sharing a loft to meet their mistresses. One day they find the body of a young woman in the loft. Since there are only five keys to the loft, the five men begin to suspect each other of murder. This description offers a myriad of musical emotional possibilities and De Marco’s chosen direction is to score this independent film with the sweep, grander and exaggerated emotional tones of a big-budget action film; the throb of John Powell’s work on both the Jason Bourne series and Face/Off, the knife-edge temperament of Mark Mancina’s Speed. The music posits these expectations early on, then completely surpasses and out grows the relative shortcomings of these now endlessly regurgitated stylings, proving itself dexterous enough to be able to get under your skin as well as make your pulse pound. On many occasions De Marco takes tried and tested formulas, spinning, twisting and slyly defying exception enough to revitalise them anew, whilst still retaining something pleasingly identifiable.

Organic Instrumentation

The shadowy horns, pensive keys and popping electronics of the first quarter of the album, have long being staple features of the compositions of Harry Gregson-Williams, yet the cumulative compound of this layering technique is nowhere near as bombastically obvious and over-calculated as the stalwart of the “Zimmer School for Film Scoring”. De Marco’s strands of instrumentation grow together organically, into a swirling miasma of suspicion and self-doubt; texturally, this is everything Brian Tyler’s Eagle Eye sacrificed for pomposity.

On “Lies” the effect of heavily plucking the strings is employed, but whereas in the world of lazy horror scoring, this would dominate the cue, here it is well-advisedly tucked behind another sheet of strings, that soon breaks apart; determinedly lashing and maddeningly spiralling over one another. This nauseating effect is perfect for a thriller in which perceived points of view are suddenly made dubious and cast in new light; the world around you turned topsy-turvy, up is down and wrong is right.

Show-Stealer

“Shadow” recalls in a most welcome way, some of my favourite Graeme Revell scores, namely Aeon Flux and The Negotiator. A familiar world of submersive, watery electronics that discombobulate the listener in a dizzying, murky haze, obscuring the clear sense and sight of things. The cue ends dramatically, suddenly emerging from the shadows and snapping sharply back into focus with hard-hitting, soul-shaking drum blasts. Following this, “Breakdown” dips a lot more than it’s toes into Christopher Young horror territory, threatening to knock you over the precipice of psychological meltdown, before bursting forth from the undergrowth of inner conflict with tender, heat-breaking clarity and precious survivalism.

It’d be unfair to label “Casino” as the album’s centrepiece based on running time alone, but twelve minutes of permutative repitition is indeed the show-stealer. This makes an interesting companion piece with the ever-so slightly overrated “Why So Serious?” cue from The Dark Knight. Whereas the Newton Howard/Zimmer collaboration was essentially one note twisted into multiple unhinged variations, “Casino” kneads a complete phrase. Both have the similar swell of scavenging strings and metronome ticks, but the Joker’s theme has a sado-masochistic bent of self-destruction, building towards impending terror. “Casino” is set towards a more pre-determined, grave fatalism of which we never get to see the outcome. It’s more a limbo than a dance of death; the steady slow burn sense of the implosion of a febrile mind that happens off stage, rather than the “ba-bam, ba-bam” jolts that explode over the streets of Gotham.

Irresolute Ending

“Traitor” and “Revenge” spend far too long in the sol merge of shadows, but the full brunt of the veiled duplicity of those cues is felt in “Murder”, a creeping dread cocktail of soul-scouring introspection and ominous inner torment. “Letter” proclaims a jarring adrenaline shot of thrills, adding dimension and stealth to the close of the album, letting it fly in the final quarter. It’s a breathtaking display of perfectly coordinated percussion, sonic acrobatics possessed of the most nimble agility.

“The End” leaves you tottering on a note of irresolution. A whimper, instead of a bang that many listeners are bound to find unsatisfactory, though I was happy to satiate myself by pressing play the moment the album finished.

Conclusion

“Loft” is a score suitably lofty in all its aspirations, and not content to situate itself on the upper floor, it proceeds to bust right through the roof, triumphantly heralding the arrival of one Wolfram De Marco. While he won’t be winning my “…and introducing” composer award of the year, (that will be going to Nico Muhly for Joshua), he is unquestionably a composer to keep an eye on in 2009. Once Hollywood gets wind of him, he’s destined for very lofty heights indeed.

Track List

01. Loft (*****)
02. Flirt (****)
03. Lies (*****)
04. Shadow (*****)
05. Breakdown (*****)
06. Casino (*****)
07. Traitor (**)
08. Revenge (***)
09. Murder (****)
10. Body (***)
11. Letter (*****)
12. End (***)