Album Review: Various Artists - Nick Cave And Warren Ellis present Lawless OST

Despite being a renaissance man who's spent the last two decades 'dabbling' in all manner of creative expression, Nick Cave can still do things that make you think, 'Holy shit! How is one dude involved in all these amazing projects?'

Such is the case with Lawless, a movie that Cave scripted for director John Hillcoat. And if writing a major Hollywood picture wasn't enough, Cave teamed up with Warren Ellis to write the movie's soundtrack, an ambitious collection of covers and original songs that attempts to marry the film's 1930s prohibition-era America setting with the kind of brooding alternative music that Cave's disciples want on their stereos in 2012. It's a tough ask, but to Cave's credit it never feels like a vanity project.

Apart from his distinct vocals over a cover of John Lee Hooker's Burnin' Hell, Cave lets his featured players take the spotlight and he and Ellis remain in the background. The spotlight of the record is directed towards grunge survivor Mark Lanegan and bona fide country and bluegrass legends Ralph Stanley and Emmylou Harris.

While Stanley's banjo and Harris' wistful southern twang efforts lend the album the kind of authenticity not heard on a soundtrack since Crazy Heart, it's Lanegan who really steals the show. If there's anyone qualified to feature on the soundtrack for a movie about bootleggers, one that presumably features a lot of people necking moonshine, it's Lanegan. His whiskey-soaked warble on efforts like Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do sound like some of the most compelling arguments both for and against heavy drinking ever committed to tape.