Movie soundtracks are designed to merge the power of music with the power of theater to create a powerful, memorable viewing experience. The reason that the Bee Gees’ Saturday Night Fever album was their best-selling release wasn’t because people thought that they were great pop songs (even though they were), but because people used the soundtrack as a way to remember their favorite scenes in that timeless film. Cameron Crowe and the Scrubs people (or maybe it’s just Zach Braff) have made buckets of money on their realization of how much more memorable their material can be when people can associate a certain song with a certain moment, with a certain emotion, thus creating a series of multi-faceted tangible experiences for an entire generation.
But what happens when a group releases an album that sounds like it would be a killer soundtrack for a quirky comedic drama (maybe dramatic comedy?), but the movie itself hasn’t been made yet? The result would be the technically excellent, but sonically fractured Drama, the sophomore release from the pop duo Bitter:Sweet. Featuring a lead single (“The Bomb”) that has already found its way onto TV (the song serves as the theme song to NBC’s Lipstick Jungle), the entire album resonates with smooth, sexy, jazz-pop sensibilities, but somehow doesn’t stand up on its own. It’s as if each track is waiting for a show, a movie, or a product to attach itself to in order to have some sort of greater significance or notoriety. The production and instrumentation of Kiran Shahani are impeccable, the voice of Shana Halligan is quite sultry, and it’s evident that the two have great creative chemistry, but the songs really aren’t that remarkable, as if they’re content to supplement whatever might be walking across the screen. On the whole, Drama is less than dramatic itself, but more than willing to assist you in feeling dramatic.
-- Adam P. Newton [June 25, 2008]
