My Accomplice is a new film by a Brighton writer and director Charlie Rolfe who we met at Latest TV where he was being interviewed for the Brighton Lights show. The soundtrack to the film is jam full of great local bands including Sally Megee, Transformer, Bob Wants His Head Back, Alf Wiltshire, The Duke Of Burgundy, Kitty Garden, Your Heart Breaks, Jo Ema, The Mountain Firework Company and John Fitzmaurice.
The film was nominated for Best British Film at The Edinburgh International Film Festival earlier this year and will be previewed in Brighton on Wednesday 3rd December at The Duke of York's Picturehouse. So having not seen the film yet I can't put it into perspective of the movie but the songs do paint a picture…
The album starts with a short spoken word piece talking about love in a semi-ironic way . Which from the quirky trailer probably reflects the film well. One of the most featured artist is Sally Megee with four instrumental pieces with a nice laid back drifting feel that would not feel out of place in a Western movie. With song titles like Trafalgar St, The Woods, Trafalgar St Whistle and The Kiss it's easy to close your eyes and let the music take you away to those special places you have in your memories.
Transformer's two tracks provide a bit of up-tempo electronic music with Dragonfly and Heartbreak. Their repetitive beats will get the feet tapping while still maintaining a nice dreamy disco undertones. Dragonfly especially being one of those songs you could quite happily leave on repeat for a few listens.
Bob Wants His Head Back is the only other band to make more than one appearance on the album with their dark and twisted funky cabaret tunes. Love Song, well it is a film about love, has a slight French Édith Piaf feel to it while Grandfather is a more upbeat thigh slapping style.
Your Heart Breaks and one of the few non Brighton bands on the soundtrack, hailing from the USA and their track Will We Ever delivers a bit of American droney vocals. The song is like a road movie itself.
The Mountain Firework Company continue the American feel with Tonight, a song dripping with heartache sung in their instantly recognisable acoustic country folk style.
The Duke Of Burgundy add a bit of funk to the party with Bear Love. Another instantly catch tune with some great hooks and often repeated line “I've got Bear, Bear Love” will be rolling around in your head for days.
Trouble by Kitty Garden is a tender gentle acoustic song which breaks into French every now and again and has a a nice bluesy swing to it.
If you like your blues to be a bit more punchy then John Fitzmaurice's Pint Of Milk Blues is a short Bluegrass track that sounds like it's just dropped out of the 1920's Deep South Americana.
Jo Ema brings yet more of a French feel with a bit of accordion and violin music that would not sound out of place in a Jean-Jacques Beineix film. The track Ochi Chornya (Dark Eyes) certainly has some dark and twisted interplay between the two instruments.
Alf Wiltshire brings some light relief to the album with the humorous track Avocados and as he say “Sometimes you win and sometimes you might lose”.
All in all it's a nice, well rounded soundtrack that has certainly made me eager to see the film as well as introducing me to some of the wonderful bands featured on the album.
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