With the phenomenal success of the Garden State soundtrack, it’s no surprise almost as much fuss and expectation surrounds the musical accompaniment to Zach Braff’s follow-up movie, Wish I Was Here, as attends the actual film.
And just like 10 years ago, Braff has managed to convince some of the biggest names around to cough up some fantastic original work. The Shins – whose Garden State appearance gave their burgeoning careers a huge boost in 2004 – open up. You won’t hear the wonderful ‘So Now What’ until the closing credits however. But that aside, Braff has compiled the tracks in chronological order, outlining his reasons in the insightful running commentary accompanying each track.
For one, Wicklow’s new star, Hozier, will be hoping his live version of ‘Cherry Wine’ can deliver a similar turbo boost to his already rocketing career. “Heart breaking, beautiful poetry,” Braff says. The most unlikely credit goes to the pairing of Cat Power’s Chan Marshall with indie powerhouses Coldplay. Marshall is the star: on ‘Wish I Was Here’ her gravelly, emotive tones are offset by Martin’s gentle harmonies, while the band’s touching atmospherics result in a soft, beautiful crescendo.
Also look out for star-turns from Bon Iver, Paul Simon, Badly Drawn Boy and Gary Jules (remember him?) on what is another wonderfully compiled Braff soundtrack.
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