The Balladeer of Darkness scores soundtrack of pure sundown
In addition to writing the script for The Proposition, Nick Cave co-wrote the soundtrack with Warren Ellis. As one expects from Cave, the atmosphere is tense and extreme, each note feeling stretched to its limit as time ticks away. “Martha’s Dream” lopes past with Ellis’ strings twisting in the wind. “Moan Thing” is aptly named, as it evokes the same haunted majesty of Tom Waits’ eeriest moments. Largely instrumental, and accented with narration that nearly suffocates from the tension, the soundtrack has a few moments when Cave emerges vocally to deliver sermons with his usual grave finality (“Down to the Valley,” “Gun Thing”). In these sorrowful moments set to piano and strings, Cave is master of his realm, singing from a heart of darkness inside the seedy nightclub of his soul.
(To read Paste‘s in-depth Q&A with Proposition screenwriter Nick Cave, director John Hillcoat and actor Guy Pearce, click here.)