The Master (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood provided the music for Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, and he's reprising his role for Anderson's 2012 film The Master. The time is the postwar, pre–rock 'n' roll era of the '50s. Ella Fitzgerald, Madisen Beaty, Jo Stafford, and Helen Forrest songs weave into a mix of orchestral instrumentals that flow like a dream sequence where emotions are heightened but difficult to fully parse. Strings, woodwinds, and harps float in and out of view, with Greenwood preferring spare spaces over grand orchestras. "Alethia" is arguably the album's finest piece. However, when experiencing film music, it's best not to pull toward an individual piece but to let the entire experience act as one long composition.