Dan In Real Life (Original Soundtrack)

iTunes Review

The soundtrack to Peter Hedges’ film Dan in Real Life, a romantic comedy starring Steve Carell and Dane Cook, is logically supplied by Sondre Lerche, a Norwegian singer-songwriter with just the right amount of youthful enthusiasm and romantic wanderlust to make the travel both natural and light. There are no long, dark tortured moments of existential handwringing, but rather a series of tunes that skip past at a whimsical pace. Several cuts are reprised from past Lerche albums. “Airport Taxi Reception” was featured on 2007’s Phantom Punch, his cover of Elvis Costello’s “Human Hands” was culled from 2006’s Duper Sessions and his duet with Lillian Samdal, “Modern Nature,” appeared on his 2002 release Faces Down. Several incidental instrumentals (“Family Theme Waltz,” “I’ll Be OK (instrumental reprise)”) bridge several new compositions, the excellent “To Be Surprised” and “My Hands Are Shaking,” along with an unexpected cover of Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door” and a spirited duet with Regina Spektor on the ‘70s AM funk of “Hell No.” There is also an additional cut, A Fine Frenzy’s cover of the jazz-blues standard “Fever,” sandwiched in between that feels out of place smack dab in the middle of Lerche’s score.