3 out of 5

Produced by: Ramin Djawadi

Label: Milan

Now that he’s proven capable of delivering consistently exciting variations on his Earthy, moody – but massive and affecting – themes, Ramin Djawadi has become quite in demand for bringing just that sound to various films and shows.  Along the way he’s still found room for trying on slightly different tonal hats, but it’s also true that we haven’t quite seen the more experimental side of the composer evident on some of his earlier efforts, with Mr. Brooks being one of his earliest (as a solo artist), and also one of his most non-soundtracky releases.

Which is, frankly, its main flaw: I can’t quite imagine the movie that goes along with this score, while at the same time, I have to imagine that the visuals prevented Djawadi from being able to push the music in a more notable direction; Mr. Brooks is a score in search of a theme.

It has a theme – a mysterious little six note, simple trill – but it’s very downplayed, as though scared to emerge.  When it does – what we might assume to be the movie’s stronger scenes (is it apparent yet that I haven’t watched the flick?) – the various fascinating elements of the tracks come together for something pretty driving and spooky.  ‘The Thumbprint Killer;’ ‘Decision;’ closer ‘Graveyard Standoff’ – the subtle electronics and key flourishes and feedback are wonderfully evocative of scenes / feelings the titles suggest, and also help to draw attention to the interesting bits and pieces scattered inbetween…

There’s a lot of cool stuff going on on Mr. Brooks, and I really appreciate the way the sequencing leads in to the one non-Djawadi track, The Veils’ Vicious Traditions.  The care with which the track is blended in does come across in the way the score wants to hang together as a proper album, first, instead of a soundtrack, but at the same time, the music is inherently limited by needing to align with a flick that Djawadi can’t quite seem to get a handle on.  But when he does, the music produced is appropriately rocking and emotive.