Daybreakers Composed by Christopher Gordon
Lionsgate Records (2010)
Rating:
6/10
Soundclips below from AmazonMP3
“...ultimately there
are some truly gorgeous moments in DAYBREAKERS, and CHRISTOPHER
GORDON addresses them with appropriately stunning music, but they’re
separated by such vacuous and unnecessary spans of ambient
meandering . . . that the listening experience
feels too uneven and unsatisfying to excel."
An Undying Genre Review by Marius Masalar
Among the stream of recent media ventures capitalizing on the craze
started by a certain author who castrated the vampire myth with her book
series, it’s refreshing to see a more sober and — dare I say — authentic
rehash. The Spierig brothers wrote and directed an interesting genre clash
in DAYBREAKERS, landing somewhere in the sci-fi/vampire horror crossover
zone that the BLADE series inhabits, and yet managing to be sufficiently
distinctive.
In an appreciated break from expectation, this film’s dark sci-fi world is
graced with a primarily orchestral score by talented Australian composer
CHRISTOPHER GORDON, whose work was probably not familiar to American
audiences until MASTER AND COMMANDER. GORDON has had a fruitful year, with
this score and MAO’S LAST DANCER, from last year, thrusting him into the
limelight and earning him an award for Best Original Music at the AFI
awards in December. While MAO’S LAST DANCER deserved its award and
showcased the best of GORDON’s talent, DAYBREAKERS falls a little short,
providing a largely inconsistent underscore of significant orchestral
might but little sophistication, occasionally punctuated by gorgeous
interludes.
Opening strongly with “Immolation” (1), a patient but ultimately ferocious
cue, the score then lapses into four minutes of brooding textures in
“Nightfall” (2) before regaining a bit of vibrancy with the warm and
haunting “Humans” (3). Sporadic string solos and subtle electronics
introduce us to the plight of our race in this cold and hopeless world.
Even though the male choral clusters throughout “Subsider” (4) make for a
great effect, there’s little else to back them up and make the atmosphere
more interesting to listen to until “On The Run” (5) brings in some heavy
unaccompanied percussion work and injects some motion and primal drama
into the soundscape. An awkward cut midway through that track leads into
the second half, in which the human themes are restated more dramatically
and more beautifully — GORDON seems closer to his usual standards in this
cue.
With a title like “Blood Lust” (6) and a length of more than seven
minutes, one might expect this track to be a showcase action cue. One
would be wrong. So very wrong. Lonely strings are soon joined by a choir
to make a sparse and brief melodic statement, but after the 2-minute mark
there is nothing to hear but extremely quiet and static textures. “The
Winery And The Café” (7) happily makes up for that by being an
unexpectedly stirring cues. A heartfelt and sensitive theme is expertly
woven together with subtle strains of tragedy and tension. A drop off
partway through the cue leads to another patient but terrifying build, led
by the choir. “Fermentation Tank” (8) continues on well by revisiting the
previous cue’s thematic material with more solo strings — the plaintive
instruments of choice for representing the humans’ plight, it seems. The
rest of the orchestra provides a rousing concluding statement, with the
large horn section out in full force. “Ambush” (9) marks a noisy return to
the action percussion, with tam-tam swells and various shakers punctuating
the heavy drums. After a brief pause, GORDON brings in the rest of the
orchestra to support the quieting percussion. It all makes for a cool but
strangely un-cohesive track.
The solo horn opening to “Resurrection” (10) leads into a brooding but
powerful piece of music, with more heavy percussion highlights. GORDON is
still holding back though, with nothing really aiming for the heights of
orchestral power he’s capable of wielding. Unsettling processed brass
gives way to sheer choral cacophony that Christopher Young would be proud
of in “Drought” (11), but each effect is presented on its own and
separately…and the result lacks the sophistication and musical tact with
which the “other” Christopher implements similar structures. “In The Sun”
(12) is a peaceful but moving track, with some gorgeous choral melodies
carrying it to a mighty climax that is easily one of the score’s
highlights. “Blood Brothers” (13) is another unnecessary and uninteresting
ambience track.
“Spread The Cure” (14) is what long tracks should be like. Serving as a
brilliant and articulate suite of the material in the film, GORDON finally
lets loose here, especially after the sixth minute. Everything from the
plaintive string solos, to the brass fanfares, to the choral elements, to
the quiet electronics are thrown in here, and unlike in many of the other
tracks, the combination feels coherent. The track is a tour de force in
any case, and along with “Daybreak” (15) — which features a beautiful
statement of the main theme — provides a satisfying conclusion to the
score material. “Running Up That Hill” (16) is the necessary pop addition,
and it actually seems like a fitting conclusion to the album, fitting the
mood of GORDON’s score while providing some extra rock punch.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think that the biggest problem with
this album is that there’s too much music on it. I say that because
ultimately there are some truly gorgeous moments in DAYBREAKERS, and
CHRISTOPHER GORDON addresses them with appropriately stunning music, but
they’re separated by such vacuous and unnecessary spans of ambient
meandering — clearly not GORDON’s forte — that the listening experience
feels too uneven and unsatisfying to excel.
