I couldn’t count on both hands the number of times I’ve felt personally attacked by a director’s choice in a soundtrack. Okay, slight exaggeration – but you get the idea. So many movies are filled with boring background songs, there only to fill space without actually adding any value. Thankfully, this isn’t the case with American Honey – every song has been carefully picked to tell the story of our heroine, Star, and acts as an intrinsic part of the narrative.
Don’t be mistaken – this isn’t the most magical, amazing compilation of songs you’ll ever hear (or maybe it is, I’m not here to judge.) However, it is the albums authenticity as a believable playlist, put together by a bunch of lost souls travelling across America, which makes it worth listening to. The variety of music genres, spanning from country (Copperhead Road; Steve Earle) to rap (Out The Mud; Kevin Gates) and even a track by Danish rock duo ‘The Raveonettes’ gives the soundtrack a realistic, organic feeling – the sudden change of genre between songs surely reflects the ups and downs of the coming-of-age story this album is telling. Ultimately, this album was put together with the characters truly in mind, leading the listener to believe each song is one the characters can dance to, sing along to and, ultimately, find themselves in.
One of the best things about this soundtrack, is that it’s one you can listen to without actually having to watch the film (not that you wouldn’t because it looks incredible); it’s ability to stand alone and be workable as a compilation of songs that simply fit together, despite the diversity it contains, is something to be admired.
The album, put together by Universal Music, is available to download and stream across all BPs including iTunes & Spotify as of 30th September. American Honey will be in UK cinemas from October 14th nationwide.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Best Track: God’s Whisper // Raury
Words by Hayley Lynes