- Almost custom-made for Scott Walker to make a soundtrack to, the new film Childhood Of A Leader tells the tale of a child who grows up to become a fascist leader. From Ceaucescu to Mussolini, men who committed atrocities have long been lyrical fascinations for Walker, who this time concentrates his creative energy into this powerful, discordant and playful movie score.

For those unfamiliar, Scott Walker has one of the most extraordinary resumes of a modern musical figure. First emerging in the late ‘50s as a would-be teenage idol in the Fabian mould, the American found Beatles-level fame in the UK as lead singer with the Walker Brothers (a perfectly cheekboned trio, not really brothers, not really called Walker), before detouring into four solo albums in the late ‘60s that remain masterclasses in immaculately crafted baroque pop and European cabaret. Following years in the wilderness, he ultimately re-emerged in his later life as a creator of deeply unsettling avant-rock, his natural baritone voice deliberately strained into a haunted operatic tenor as he scored his dark obsessions by getting his percussionist to punch a side of pork and, most recently, collaborating with drone/doom duo Sunn O))).

Childhood Of A Leader is the 73-year-old’s second film score, following his ‘90s work for Leos Carax’s Pola X and is a more focussed effort than that particular soundtrack. The closest comparison one could make with Walker’s other work would be the music he composed in 2007 for contemporary dance piece And Who Shall Go To The Ball? And What Shall Go To The Ball?, sharing that work’s use of shuddering, Bernard Hermann-esque staccatos and steel-eyed dissonance.

It’s a more approachable collection of music than that though, with melodies and rhythmic cohesion found in centrepieces Opening and the booming menace of Finale. There are gentle, haunting moments to be found as well, including the simple, flowing phrases of Run and the synth sketch New Dawn (Synth Layout For Cut Scene), and a bit of fun with Printing Press which uses the instrument of its title as percussion.

The criticism I have is that the majority of these pieces are one minute or less in length, so they frequently end just as they are starting to get going. But as a film score, it’s very strong indeed and is a record well worth seeking out for both soundtrack buffs and Walker fans alike. As luck would have it, this guy is both.

- Matt Thrower.