Nick Cave and Warrem Ellis Go Lunar

The history of Nick Cave is well documented and nearly legendary. From his time with The Birthday Party to his ongoing membership as part of the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave has given us some of the most dramatic, imaginative, and brilliantly violent music of our time all without barely making a racket. Now writing soundtracks and instrumental works along with his songwriting partner Warren Ellis, he's grown as a musician and as a songwriter composing songs that create atmospheres and set scenes. Nick and Warren's latest album, White Lunar is a selection of pieces taken from various motion pictures and documentaries that they have been involved in.

Including pieces from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Proposition, The Road, The English Surgeon, The Girls of Phnom Penh and a host of other works that Nick and Warren have been holding on to, White Lunar is a two disc set of theme music and orchestral wonder as well as haunting passages that will stir your imagination and soul. The two discs are brilliantly arranged and composed and will leave you wondering if this was ever the same guy who wrote, "From Her To Eternity." Mature, humble, and terrifyingly brilliant, White Lunar shows a pair of songwriters who have taken every drop of wisdom they've learned over the years and turn that into sweeping epic songs that will have you updating your Netflix cue faster than you boot up your computer.

White Lunar is a fantastic "greatest hits," if you will and gives you an insight into each of the movies that Nick and Warren have worked on. It's fascinating how the themes change and the songs textures change as well. It's a thought provoking set that's wonderful to just sit back to and let your imagination run wild. From the mournful strings of "Song For Bob," from The Assassination of Jesse James to the sparse atmospherics of, "The Father," from The Road, White Lunar is beautiful orchestrated music that's sparse, textural, and nothing like what you'd expect.

They've done an awesome job here and the images and atmospheres that Nick and Warren create with each piece is truly something to hear. Infused with a defiant spirit but laced with a sparse sense of what works for drama, White Lunar is an awesome record that is yet another amazing chapter in the career of not only Nick Cave but Warren Ellis as well. Highly recommended for anyone who loves film or film music.