Album review: Paper Town’s soundtrack is close to perfection

Album cover for Paper Towns soundtrack.

Paper Towns Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Various Artists

Atlantic Records

Four stars

As soundtracks go, Paper Towns comes close to perfection. It works as the optimum seasoning to the main dish – the movie – but its enchanting composition also works as a stand-alone treat.

The youthful energy of the protagonists is the common thread throughout the 16-track playlist, with sparkly contemporary electro-pop beats and 1980s-suffused chords.

If one were to peel back the modern beats – say the exotic brass from Santigold's Radio or the languid drums from Sam Bruno's Search Party – one would end up in the perfectly respectable world of a John Hughes film soundtrack.

Galantis' urgently upbeat Runaway (U & I) adds the most contemporary feel to the album, while Kindness' Swingin Party takes one on an eerie trip.

The War on Drugs' Burning is the Springsteen of the soundtrack, with a natural rock swagger, and HAIM's Falling is a crowd-pleaser. But it is Son Lux's wailing and ticking on Lost it to Trying that becomes the belle of the ball.