Three friends who are all in their thirties become tired and disillusioned with the life they are leading in Seville Spain, so they leave what they think is the mediocre day to day living that they have and travel to the United States and spend two days in amongst the hustle and urbanised lifestyle of New York City. It is during this short stay in the big apple that they not only discover the ways of the city but also discover much about themselves. Released in 2013, MET IN NYC or ENCONTRADOS EN NYC to give the movie its original Spanish title, is a drama that is laced with romance and comedy, written and directed by Daniel Zarandieta the movie received much acclaim from critics and cinema audiences alike. The movies affecting and accomplished musical score is by multi talented composer Sergio Pena who is a music smith who is at home composing music for film and television and is also well acquainted and practised with writing songs. The composer has created an understated but at the same time moving soundtrack for the movie where he utilises to great effect romantic, poignant and melodious sounding strings that underline and ingratiate the films story line perfectly, underlining the three friends strong emotional bonds and at the same time enhancing wonderfully the very different pace of life that they are experiencing during their time in New York. The composer fuses both dramatic colours with jazz influence passages and at times his style can be likened to that of composer Dave Grusin. Light and easy sounding piano combines with subtle strings that brings forth a sound that is in many ways comfortable as well as entertaining, the music which also has a life away from the movie is well crafted and beautifully performed. The opening track on this compact disc RAI THEME is particularly alluring, the composer employing a plaintive Spanish guitar that is underlined by emotive sounding strings both of these musical components compliment and embellish each other elegantly. Track two is a testament to the versatility of the composer, ANDY PIANO THEME is a beguiling and haunting piece, solo piano being the central instrumentation. The composer creates delicate and attractive tone poems via the use of piano, guitar and strings and also manages to generate an equal amount of dramatic atmosphere utilising the same instrumentation. The score is for the most part low key but also contains a number of upbeat and infectious cues NYC IS MY DREAM for example and the inventive URBAN MIX which is filled with bass punctuation and percussive backgrounds that are combined with sounds from the city. This is a soundtrack that I am sure will be re- visited many times by any collector who adds it to their collection, it is a tantalising and haunting listen that encompasses so many moods and creates numerous atmospheres via its nuances and themes, this is definitely one to check out. Available soon on Kronos records.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 