[Review] "House of Lies" Soundtrack - Album
Showtime’s comedy-drama series "House of Lies” may be all about its intriguing arguments of how ‘a group of management consultants stop at nothing to get business deals done’ but there’s room for the music too. Two-time Grammy-nominee Chris Douridas and Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein have worked closely to put together the first "House of Lies” soundtrack album (released last March 3rd) which boasts a selection of the 12 best songs from the show’s first three seasons. The Don Cheadle-starred "House of Lies” is currently on air on Showtime with its third season, whose twelfth and last episode will be broadcasted on April 6th.
The “House of Lies” soundtrack opens with the
signature guitar riffs of Gary Clark Jr. The highly-fuzzy song “Bright Lights”
will undoubtedly mesmerize you and make you ready for the rollercoaster of
pleasant sounds that this soundtrack will be. “Ended up with the bottle/Taking
shots, waiting on tomorrow” sings
The fourth song; “This Love Is Here To Stay” performed by Norwegian artist Thomas Dybdahl is one of the luckiest on the album. Why? Because the song in its entirety was heard by “House of Lies" viewers on last week’s episode (March 16th) on Showtime (note only a few seconds of these songs are most of times heard in episodes) and because series producers decided to place Thomas Dybdahl’s evocative track ‘in what is considered to be a pivotal scene in show’s three-year run’. “This Love Is Here To Stay” is definitely a stand-out on this soundtrack, and if you hadn't heard this song before (was released last Fall actually) then you're in great luck you're reading this review. From the subtle production slapping the body of the guitar to Thomas’ smoky Robin Thicke-esque voice, and the steamy lyrics, this song is fire.
The follow-up is track no. 5 and it's a song by 'The Man' Aloe Blacc. "Take Me Back” comes from the singer's second album "Good Things", and it sees Aloe talking to God himself. 'If I die before I wake, gotta be a mistake, Lord, take me back’, sings Aloe in the perfect-for-church anthem. The Xylophone usage makes this a unique song. Fat Freddy's Drop will make you “Clean The House” in the sixth song of the soundtrack. Soulful vocals, and a horns-based production. This is one of those songs that will make you crave a drag of cigarette. Back to the territory of 21st Century-sounding songs, here comes Basecamp’s “Smoke Filled Lungs”. And make no mistake; this isn't The Fray's frontman singer, although it sounds like him. "I'm not your enemy”, sings the Basecamp singer in the mysterious-sounding ballad that boasts a ‘beat break’ in the middle that could perfectly be something Timbaland would produce for Justin Timberlake.
The following two songs takes us back again to
the peak days of 60’s jazz music. The James Hunter Six’s "Heartbreak”
feels like an Otis Redding song and the singer transmits the pain when his poor
heart is broken into two. Meanwhile Count Basie’s “Belly Roll” will
teletransport you to the times when the Moulin Rouge was commencing. This
instrumental is jazzy, fun, sort of cabaret-ready, and will make you want to purchase one
of those long cigarette holders.
Guitars, strings and electronic music collide in track #10; “Illusions of Time” by Kiko King & creativemaze. There’s no real singing in this song, just the uttering on random individual words. There’s a ‘sinister’ vibe wrapping up this 'many genres’ number. Second-to-last, Danish singer N*Grandjean take his guitar, adds a lot of ‘doo, doo, pa, pa’ adlibs and serenades us with “Shift to Reverse”, a sultry song that reminds me of Millow, the guy who remixed 50 Cent’s “Ayo Technology” song. Similar vocals.
And, finally, closing up the soundtrack is a powerful song called “It Always Comes Back Around”, performed by BBC’s Sound of 2012 winner, Michael Kiwanuka. The ‘warning’ song reminds us to keep our feet on the ground and that we better watch what we say, and what we do, as you never you know if karma will haunt you down.
“House of Lies” soundtrack has indeed been a rollercoaster of pleasant sounds. Jazz, electronic, guitar-driven, vintage-sounding, contemporary music, this album is filled with songs of many genres and styles, but they all in the end meet one purpose, to match the storylines of the “House of Lies” episodes from its first three seasons. Larry Klein and Chris Douridas may have had it easy finding the perfect songs for the "House of Lies" episodes, but it sure was a difficult task to reduce those to only 12 for this soundtrack.
Having a romantic dinner (“Brains Out”)? Are you a housewife getting the dirt out (“Clean The House”)? Or perhaps, you’re having a meal with friends at the beach house below the full moon (“Midnight Sun”)? “House of Lies” soundtrack will surely become one of your must go-to CD-s for one of these occasions.