Max Richter - Out of The Dark Room (2017)

Despite the unfortunately cheesy artwork, Out of The Dark Room collects some 24 of Max Richter’s “most beautiful compositions for film” c. 2008-2015, issued in the wake of his string of major solo and score releases. So great is Richter’s wingspan now that you’ve maybe heard some of them without realising they’re from the Richter scale - a definite measure by which to hold up modern classical film soundtracks.

Equally adept at majestic string orchestration as he is with bellicose electronic tension and romantic themes - as proved in the first three tracks inside, and as you would hope from a blockbuster OST composer - Richter is patently fluent in the language of film music, evidenced in his work with everyone from Tilda Swinton and Robert Wyatt to his work on films such as Waltz With Bashir, Sarah’s Key, Wadjda, Disconnect, The Congress, and Testament of Youth - all included inside.

The composer himself comments on his role: “I think music is a kind of amniotic fluid and the film lives in it. Sometimes music can be at the forefront, playing a supportive role without even realising it, but if you take it away you would miss out on the basics.” And there you have it, a smart portrait of the man’s mature and widely scoped latter-day oeuvre, 2008-2015.

TRACKLIST

CD1

01. The Haunted Ocean 4
02. Any Minute Now / Thinking Back
03. I Swam Out To Sea / Return
04. What Have They Done?
05. The Haunted Ocean 5 (Solo Version)
06. The Vel d'Hiv
07. The Escape
08. When She Came Back
09. The Tree, The Beach, The Sea
10. Julia's Journey
11. Julia Walking
12. Sarah's Notebook
13. Wadjda's Journey
14. Conversation
15. Sequence
16. The Release

CD2

01. The Swimmer
02. Unwritten
03. Break In
04. Beginning and Ending
05. On The Road To Abrahama 1
06. In The Cosmic Lobby
07. Out of The Dark
08. Love and Imagination
09. The Rising of The Sun
10. These I Send To You
11. Returning Over The Nightmare Ground
12. I Will Not Forget You