This year brings two revelations from Chicago-born pop/soul/torch-singer Liam Hayes of Plush. Spring will offer Hayes's fourth album, the sweetly sad Korp Sole Roller (produced by Wilco's Pat Sansone). And this week it's the soundtrack to the Roman Coppola–written/directed A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, opening for limited engagements on February 8 (but available on iTunes). The soundtrack includes a mix of Plush songs, gently orchestrated instrumentals, and a pretty-decent Charlie Sheen–sung version of bossa standard "Aguas de Marco" — a must for fans long desperate for Plush on vinyl."As far as arranging goes, I'm starting to move in that direction a little more," says Hayes on his first soundtrack (he actually appeared as a lounge pianist in High Fidelity). "I was fortunate to have had [Coppola] ask me to do the score for it."
Swan III is a surreal comedy set in the 1970s starring Sheen as a quixotic womanizer whose twisted ideations come to life, and co-stars Jason Schwartzman as his even-shallower sidekick. Casting smoldering Katheryn Winnick as the scorned lover as well as Bill Murray in another supporting role puts the film in the realm of a glib Warholian celebrity parade.
This makes the choice to spotlight Hayes's music all the more interesting, since his stoic and sanguine material — though decidedly retro — works in counterpoint to the slick characters. Plush fans might find the soundtrack better than the film, but that says more about the music than the movie.
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Topics:
Music Features
, High Fidelity, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III
