Wes Anderson’s soundtracks were initially known for their Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, and lots of ’60s and 70s rock at first. Eventually, that started to change; Anderson split with composer Mark Mothersbaugh, found a new ally in French composer Alexandre Desplat, and the music choices were less immediately identifiable, not quite as conventionally hip, but still tasteful choices (think the use of Hank Williams in “Moonrise Kingdom,” The Bobby Fuller Band in “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and Grace Jones in “The French Dispatch”).
If there are two other constants in Anderson’s musical universe, one from the very beginning of his career and another that joined around the time Desplat entered the picture, they are music supervisor extraordinaire Randall Poster, who has been at Anderson’s side since “Rushmore,” and the other is Jarvis Cocker of Pulp fame who has been contributing original songs to Anderson’s films for several years now (including “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “The French Dispatch”).
Both gentlemen are instrumental, pardon the pun, to the “Asteroid City” soundtrack, Anderson’s latest film. Releasing by ABKCO Records, today, the company released the Jarvis Cocker single “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City (Original Soundtrack), which will be out in its entirety on June 23 on all digital music platforms.
In addition to Cocker himself, one of the many vocalists on the track is Brazilian musician Seu Jorge, who was prominently featured in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” This marks the first time Cocker and Jorge have sung together. “Dear Alien” was co-written by Jarvis Cocker, his former Pulp bandmate Richard Hawley, and Wes Anderson, the latter of whom provided the lyrics.
“Asteroid City” is a dusty, desert-set Nevada/New Mexico-ish tale of loneliness, stargazing, the meaning of creating art, and our place in the universe, starring folks like Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, and many more (read our review here).
“Wes and I had so much fun putting the film’s music together. We’ve been doing these soundtracks for almost 30 years and have the benefit of that continuity of collaboration,” Poster said. “We’re expanding our music horizons whenever he makes a new movie. Wes is so good with music and stands by his very strong instincts. For ‘Asteroid City,’ we had been ‘hunting and gathering’ for a year before shooting began, so we were very familiar with the Country & Western genre, which is not, per se, strictly country. C&W had more to do with the movies than anything else, and we were kind of instinctively drawn to one song or another. Our mindset was to spread the wings of Western Swing and see what we discover.”
Asteroid City (Original Soundtrack) contains 16 songs recorded and originally released in the approximate era the film takes place. Songs like Tex Ritter’s “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)” and “(I Got Spurs) Jingle Jangle Jingle,” and Tennessee Ernie Ford’s million-selling 1955 rendition of “Sixteen Tons,” which spent ten weeks at the top of Billboard’s country music chart. Bing Crosby and Burl Ives make appearances, having a go at Western music with “Cowboy’s Lament” and “The Streets of Laredo,” respectively. Other artists featured on the soundtrack include Les Paul & Mary Ford, The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group featuring Nancy Whiskey, and The Springfields (featuring a young Dusty Springfield and her brother Tom).
“Asteroid City” is already out in limited release and will expand this weekend on Friday, July 24, into wide release. The soundtrack, the tracklist of which you can see below, arrives June 23. Listen to “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” by Jarvis Cocker below.
- WXYZ-TV Channel 8 – Alexandre Desplat
- Last Train to San Fernando – Johnny Duncan and The Blue Grass Boys
- Island of Dreams – The Springfields
- April in Portugal – Les Baxter
- Ida Red – Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
- Canon [Canon and Gigue in D Major] – Henk Bouman, Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel
- Opening Ceremony with Awards Presentation (Keynote Speaker: General Grif Gibson) – Alexandre Desplat
- (I Got Spurs) Jingle Jangle Jingle – Tex Ritter and His Texans
- Orange Blossom Special – Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys
- High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) – Tex Ritter
- Cowboy’s Lament – Burl Ives
- Viewing of the Astronomical Ellipses (Opening Comments: Dr. Hickenlooper) – Alexandre Desplat
- Rosie Marie – Slim Whitman
- Indian Love Call – Slim Whitman
- Sixteen Tons – Tennessee Ernie Ford
- The Cattle Call – Eddy Arnold with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra and Chorus
- Special Seminar at the Playwright’s Request (Saltzburg Keitel’s Classroom) – Alexandre Desplat
- Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven) – Jarvis Cocker
- Kaw-Liga – Johnny Duncan and The Blue Grass Boys
- Emergency Assembly – Alexandre Desplat
- A Bewildering and Bedazzling Celestial Mystery – Alexandre Desplat
- How High The Moon – Les Paul & Mary Ford
- The Streets of Laredo – Bing Crosby
- Freight Train – The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group featuring Nancy Whiskey
- You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep – Jarvis Cocker
