Album review: The Chemical Brothers, 'Hanna: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'

electronica

The Chemical Brothers

Hanna: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 

You won't read a review of the new Hanna soundtrack without mentions of Daft Punk and Tron: Legacy, so let's get this out of the way.

Yes, Daft Punk's Tron soundtrack was a smart move for the French producers. And the Chemical Brothers seem to be emulating that tie-in with their soundtrack to Hanna.

But the Chemical Brothers outperform their musical counterparts with a soundtrack that is richly layered and potently strange — and occasionally bangin' too.

Whereas the Tron soundtrack thrived only after you'd seen the film (and the group's role in the movie), the Hanna music works on its own. It's a headphones album, something to run to.

The Chemical Brothers know their way around a melody and manipulate that into a rich score of electronic music that isn't afraid of circus-inspired ditties (The Devil Is in the Details) and spooky lullabies (The Sandman).

At 20 tracks, it surely has a few fillers. But as the film will testify, the soundtrack's energy is paramount to the action sequences. The Chemical Brothers proved they're up to the task with songs including Hanna vs. Marissa and Escape Wavefold. Plus, Hanna's Theme might be the best Chemical Brothers track in the past 10 years.

Ricardo Baca, The Denver Post

This story was originally published April 15, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Album review: The Chemical Brothers, 'Hanna: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'."