Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Album Review

The soundtrack for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the cold war thriller from director Tomas Alfredson, was crafted by acclaimed Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardener, The Kite Runner), who treats the adaptation of the 1974 British spy novel with the kind of knowing understatement that befits a cloak-and-dagger tale. Jazzy, brooding, elegant, and meticulous, Iglesias utilizes a wealth of instrumentation (horns, piano, clarinet, strings, drum kit) to ramp up the tension, casting an infectious cloud of late-night paranoia that’s highly listenable, despite its dark intentions.