Album Review

Karen O And The Kids – Where The Wild Things Are

• 14th Oct 2009

On the face of it, Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontlady Karen O seems a downright odd choice to soundtrack her ex Spike Jonze’s forthcoming adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book. Nothing about her day job’s output suggests O is suited to easy listening, but the art rock starlet has thrown up a big surprise with this lush acoustic record.

Sounding like a celebration of all things twee, Karen O and the Kids (the rest of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a couple of Raconteurs, a smattering of other big indie names and some actual kids) delight through the tender, charming fare, penned by the frontlady herself (with the exception of a neat rendition of Robert Johnson’s ‘Worried Shoes’).

As you’d expect from a movie soundtrack, it’s not a big singles album, instead cohesively transitioning from one mellow little outing to another quite seamlessly, though ‘All is Love’ verges on anthemic, a joyous performance replete with children’s backing vocals adding to feeling of innocence and happy abandon.

Often soundtrack albums are only suited to fans of the movie they belong to, or completist devotees of the composer, but Karen O has crafted a record of value in its own right, worth a listen even if you have no intention of checking the film out.