Produced with a shoestring budget of only $160,000, Once turned out to be the little musical that could this year. As of September 24 the film had grossed more then $9.5 million worldwide including almost $9 million in the U.S. That box office surprise was bolstered mostly by word-of-mouth, not to mention a glowing review by Steven Spielberg and an excellent showing at Sundance.

The soundtrack follows the burgeoning love story from the ashes of another. The real-life couple, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová are the main actors. Hansard is the singer/guitarist for the recently underwhelming Irish rock band, The Frames.

Once is full of lovely male and female harmonies. The songs are dressed solely in acoustic guitar and light piano flourishes. Percussion does bubble to the surface, but only rarely. The true beats of this soundtrack are unheard and come from the hearts of the performers. Yes, sometimes the singing is overwrought (particularly Hansard on the titular track. His top-of-the-lungs overexcited singing (think Damien Rice on 9) stems from the lingering emotions of past hurts in the face of the first flush of new love.

It’s often a beguiling experience, and the disc starts out with the best track, “Falling Slowly.” Instead of plummeting, the two lovebird voices delicately rise and fall over some of the most heart-rending and soft piano. The strings are pregnant with the same type of emotions you feel when you kiss someone for the first time. The track is at times clichéd but love encompasses all things it seems. It is altogether new and familiar. That’s why so many wedding vows say, “I thought I would never love again,” in the same breadth as, “I thought I had known you my whole life when we met.”

The disc follows the confusion, lust, and anger attached to love as well. On “Lies” we hear Hansard emote to Irglová about his former cheating girl: “The little cracks they escalated / And before you know it is too late / For making circles and telling lies.” The lyrics feel like you’re reading a diary. Those old girlfriend conversations are always awkward though.

One break in the lover’s musical conversation is the lovely sea-shanty-like ballad “Gold” from the Irish band Interference. It doesn’t feel as strange as the electronic tomfoolery on “Fallen From The Sky.” It feels clunky and again that pesky word cliché comes up again.

It is something this soundtrack has difficulty overcoming since you pay attention more to the lyrics when many notes are played like the performers don’t want to come out of their cathartic husk. Depression does lead to some creative endeavors though. It’s either soft singing or letting the angst hang all out on tracks like “Leave.”

Once chronicles some of the lofty highs and punishing travails of those who choose to love. Whether you choose to love this soundtrack might depend on where you are on that spectrum.
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Links
Once [official film site]