The Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche isn't exactly a new face -- his 2002 Astralwerks album, "Faces Down," established him as a shy folkie type, but this year he broke out of his shell with "Phantom Punch," an uptempo, electrified pop disc that stands as one of 2007's underrated gems.
Now Lerche is spearheading the soundtrack to "Dan In Real Life," the Steve Carell comedy-drama from Touchstone Pictures opening Oct. 26. The soundtrack, available Oct. 2, features four new songs, seven cue tracks written for the movie, several cuts from earlier albums and collaborations with the quirky pop singer Regina Spektor and the one-woman band A Fine Frenzy (aka Alison Sudol). Lerche also co-produced the album.
It's rare for a single-artist to dominate a soundtrack these days. The concept faded away decades ago, even though it helped define some of the best movies of the 1960s and '70s. Lindsay Anderson's "O! Lucky Man" featured the pop-rock of pianist Alan Price; Hal Ashby's "Harold and Maude" relied on songs by Cat Stevens; and Mike Nichols's "The Graduate" wouldn't have been the same without Simon and Garfunkel.These days, soundtracks are notoriously scattershot affairs, as movie studios partner with record companies to boost sales by lumping together as many bands as possible. Often, the "hit" song rolls only during the end credits, and some buzzworthy bands get squeezed into the film for mere seconds, seemingly just so they can be touted on the album cover.
But Peter Hedges, the director of "Dan in Real Life," seems to be a fan of the one-artist score: His previous film, "Pieces of April," was built around old and new works by the prolific cult songwriter Stephen Merritt (The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths).Lerche's new song "To Be Surprised" is a good example of his distinctive happy/sad style, with a wistfully trilling guitar over a catchy beat. Check it out here.
Photo: Sondrelerche.com