MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

Four years after the enormously popular and successful TV show ended, director Michael Patrick King brought Sex and the City back, this time on the big screen, with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon reprising their roles as the four man-hungry socialites, looking for love in the Big Apple. Providing the score for Sex and the City is the ever-busy Aaron Zigman, taking over the reigns for Douglas Cuomo, who scored most of the TV series.

As one might expect, much of Zigman’s music is light and breezy, upbeat and peppy, fitting the modern tone of the protagonists adventures well. The opening “Love Letters” is actually a quite lovely piano and string piece, dreamily romantic and unexpectedly beautiful, setting the tone for what turns out to be a surprisingly engaging album. The recapitulations of the style in the “It’s Me & You Suite”, the sweeping “It Was Love”, and the delicate “Did I Dream It” are very nice indeed.

“Dante” introduces sultry Latin rhythms into the mix, along with hooting saxophones and flashy guitars, and even a touch of surf music, while “Big Screws Up” features a surprisingly tender solo violin element, and later embarks on some unexpectedly powerful percussion writing. Of course, there are also several moments of out-and-out comedy scoring and playful pastiche, such as the faux-Japanese writing in “Sushi” and the knockabout pizzicato caper music in “Penthouse” and “76 Guests”, while the more urban beats of “Taxi”, “Girls Walk Up” and others remind us that the film is set in the contemporary metropolitan world.

The whole score sounds exactly how you would expect it to sounds; it offers no surprises, offers nothing original, and adheres to the chick-flick romantic comedy conventions absolutely. But there is just something about Zigman’s writing that makes it a compelling listen anyway. It’s one of the better comedy scores of 2008, for sure.

Rating: ***½

Track Listing:

• Love Letters (3:42)
• Dante (4:23)
• The Closet (2:30)
• Big Screws Up (2:48)
• It’s Me & You Suite (4:47)
• It Was Love (3:34)
• Penthouse (2:20)
• Did I Dream It (2:26)
• Water Breaks (1:44)
• Taxi (1:06)
• 76 Guests (0:56)
• Leaving Wedding (3:21)
• Louise Leaves (1:41)
• City Hall (2:07)
• Girls Walk Up (1:12)
• Carrie Sees Vogue (0:57)
• Sushi (1:50)
• It Was Love (3:27)

Running Time: 45 minutes 00 seconds

New Line Records NLR-39126 (2008)