Few artists choose to follow a highly acclaimed debut album with a soundtrack, but Badly Drawn Boy isn't your run-of-the-mill popster. Damon Gough, the man behind Badly Drawn Boy, opted to score the film adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel instead of recording a regular follow-up to 2000's 'Hour of the Bewilderbeast'. But the joke's on those who raise their eyebrows, because this stands heads and shoulders above the vast majority of pop albums and soundtracks. Interspersed with short instrumental interludes that serve as lovely miniatures, the songs perfectly evoke the book's jaunty mood and (fittingly for something based on Hornby) incorporate strands of pop music from the past 40 years with uncommon grace.
Released 15/10/12