CONTRATIEMPO [The Invisable Guest] by Fernando Velazquez
From one of the busiest composers around and one of the most diverse. I am now a confirmed fan of this Spanish scorist and accomplished cello payer. This soundtrack colours a dark, intense thriller involving murder and manipulation and and you have no doubt of this as you listen to track upon track of full throttle darkness.
The first track Goodman starts with a low note cello intent on driving you mad as it just keeps going onward in the background as the orchestra dances around it, it’s quite a pull. I try not to compare too often but this is a good comparison – El Inivitado Invisible has those long violin notes which rise and then just hang there just like the classic scores of Bernard Herrmann. In La Pesadillla there is what I can only describe as a continuous string vibration in the background akin to the sound of swarming bees, it’s very effective and really niggles at your senses. It appears on a more buzzy level in Tu No Quieres Perderlo Todo Verdad is a winding track with wonderful chord changes, there is so much going on in this cue, subtle and compelling. The last track has such gravitas starting with a sombre funereal drone, violins slowly come in and build until the strings can not reach any higher. There is no escaping this track it is really taking you somewhere … and then it doesn’t. It stops and you are left with a drum beat and then it’s back to how it sounded in the first track, jaunty and as if all was ok after all!
There is no motif as such but there is a pattern which journeys you along and there are many long, unswerving notes which just hang there giving a chilling sense of terror. This is a score which definitely gets under your skin!
The score is performed by the Euskadi Symphony Orchestra who do such a brilliant job under the baton of the Velazquez. The album also includes the original song “Nadie va a venir a buscarte,” composed by Velázquez and performed by Zahara.
TRACK LISTING
1. Goodman 2:27
2. El invitado invisible 2:12
3. La pesadilla 5:37
4. Giro a la izquierda 1:28
5. Tú no quieres perderlo todo ¿verdad? 3:19
6. El testigo 2:44
7. El hundimiento 0:51
8. Reencuentro 1:07
9. Un buen hombre 2:03
10. Atrapada 3:19
11. El último error 2:44
12. No me amenaces 5:08
13. Yo sé lo que vi 6:51
14. Chantaje 1:22
15. Tres preguntas 4:16
16. Pensamiento lateral 7:15
17. La sombra de la sombra 11:22
18. El invitado invisible II 7:45
19. Nadie va a venir a buscarte (Zahara)
QUARTET RECORDS
Filmic Tracks 