Woolly-hatted, whimsical and notoriously indecisive, Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) doesn't seem like an obvious choice to write a Hollywood soundtrack. Full credit where it's due then, since the 2000 Mercury prize-winner has come up with a sparkling companion piece to the new Nick Hornby adaptation, which also stands up as a beguiling album in its own right. The predominant mood is one of quirky experimentation, with music boxes, flutes and falsetto vocals all thrown into the mix to create a homely, pastoral soundscape, shambling and charming in equal measures. And crucially, while Gough has inevitably bowed to the constraints of the soundtrack formula - almost half of the 16 tracks are little more than instrumental snippets - he never sounds as if he's marching to someone else's tune. A small, but perfectly-formed treasure.
