Review: Sean Lennon – Alter Egos (Film Score)
Published on February 6th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams
Along with Mystical Weapons, his collaboration album with Deerhoof dynamo Greg Saunier, Sean Lennon has composed this utterly splendid score for superheroes spoof Alter Egos. The orchestral, cinematic tension of “Main Theme” is recurrent throughout the album, if it can be looked on as such, and Lennon both constructs it with panache and succeeds in scattering pop gold interludes in its realm.
“My Hero” is a gorgeous, triplety affair with a shot of “Surfer Girl” in it for good measure, not to mention a tremendous vocal turn by Karla Moheno and such goofily charming lyrics as “You don’t need a Batmobile to take me to the prom / Don’t have to be the Man of Steel to defuse this little bomb”. Ending consummately on a major 7th, “My Hero” is overall something of which dad would surely have approved.
The score continues to toss us pop treats in the form of the strutting synth funk of “Fridge Walks”, the luxurious Spanish guitar melodrama of “Montage” and the “Misirlou”/Shadows-iness of “Emily vs Claudel”. “The Shrink” sounds at one point as if it’s about to break into “The Sound of Silence” but proceeds to weave its own alluring spell, while the sly, ice-cool groove of “Love Life” plays host – as, come to think of it, do a few other tracks – to what Rocksucker feels moved to describe as “humorous percussion”.
There’s even a track on it called “Tits”, which as avid quail promoters we naturally embrace out of avian kindredship.
Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!
Alter Egos (Film Score) is out now. For more information, please visit www.seanonolennon.com