Robin Guthrie: 3:19 Bande Originale Du Film
Darla

3:19 finds Robin Guthrie in ambient guitarscaping mode—which is perfectly appropriate considering that it's soundtrack material for the Spanish film of the same name. The release's thirty-six minutes of material could be classified as reverb-soaked mood pieces of a particularly ethereal bent. Drums provide some forward thrust in “Cuanto Tiempo?” and shoegaze-like character to the slow-dancing “En Mi Punto, En Ti Punto, Y Miy en Ti Punto” and “La Eternidad....” but just as often the album focuses on beatless meditations such as “3: 19 (Intro),” an ambient setting of limpid guitar washes and synthesizer whooshes, and “Comprensión,” which wraps its piano, guitar, and strings wrapped in reverberant haze. Even so, “Lucia's Lament” exudes some degree of Badalementi lounge character in its slo-mo mix of drum brushes, electric piano, and guitar twang, and if one were to add Elizabeth Frazier's vocals to the full-band sound of “Explaining the Game,” you'd be in the vicinity of Cocteau Twins territory, so reminiscent of the group's sound is the song's melodic languor. Ultimately Guthrie's second soundtrack recording (Mysterious Skin the first) by the former Cocteau Twins guitarist and recent Harold Budd collaborator (After the Night Falls, Before the Day Breaks) doesn't signify a radical advance in his sound yet it's nevertheless a pleasurable listen and, when settings of dream-like tranquility like “3: 19 (Outro)” are on hand, there's also no denying its prettiness.

December 2008