We Bought a Zoo (Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Sigur Ros leader Jónsi provides the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's 2011 comedy-drama We Bought a Zoo. Crowe, a former music journalist, places a premium on the music in all his films, and the 11 new compositions from the Icelandic singer (plus the classic Sigur Ros track "Hoppipolla" and several previous released solo Jónsi tracks) are an exotic mix conveying a variety of moods. "Boy Lilikoi" from Jónsi's solo debut, Go, is bright and ebullient, while many of the tone poems ("Sun," "Brambles," "Sink Ships") range from atmospheric explosions of the spirit to music-box jamborees. "Gathering Stories," cowritten by Crowe, is a narrative, but many of the tracks are symphonic or imagistic. The icy choir of "Why Not?," the foreboding, slowly sawing strings of "Whole Made of Pieces," the piano and orchestra grandeur of "We Bought a Zoo," and the windstrewn "Humming" create textures that swell beyond pop music into an angelic range.