The music of Electric Youth has long been attached to the visual medium, especially film. Still to this day, their most famous song is “A Real Hero,” their collaboration with David “College” Grellier that featured prominently in Drive in 2011 after bouncing around the internet for more than a year. They would eventually begin outright scoring films, recording instrumental cues and vocal songs that populated the sonic space of Anthony Scott Burns’ 2021 film Come True (and before that, his original version of Our House, the music of which later constituted Breathing).
Their newly released soundtrack album for director Carly Stone’s 2022 film North of Normal is the latest music for screen from the Canadian duo of Austin Garrick and Bronwyn Griffin to showcase their particular talent for evoking true, poignant emotion — especially but not exclusively when there are visuals involved. I’ve listened to the album, which includes score cues, a few new songs inspired by the film, and the band’s classic “Innocence.” I’ve also watched the film itself (it’s streaming on Paramount Plus in the US). The music works on its own as an album and complements the story well. People say that a lot about scores, but it’s particularly true here.
North of Normal, based on Cea Sunrise Person’s 2014 memoir, is about teenage Cea’s struggles navigating the world after growing up in a family of off-grid hippies in a remote forest in Alberta, Canada. Her grandparents largely raised her, because her free-spirited mother is often not around or otherwise occupied. Although Cea’s specific struggles might seem foreign, the family dynamics are not. Who doesn’t confront the tension between forging one’s own identity and that which our parents want for us, when we’re in the thick of adolescence?
The film is deeply moving, gorgeously shot, and expertly acted. The grandpa is played carefully and with some dignity by Robert Carlyle, well known for his turn as the unhinged Franco in Trainspotting. Recent Cronenberg stalwart Sarah Gadon (A Dangerous Method, Map to the Stars, Cosmopolis) plays the complicated mother brilliantly. Amanda Fix steals the show as Cea, who is variously wiser and more naive than her cohort.
At first blush, this might not seem to be the natural setting for Electric Youth’s electronic-grounded music. However, it all flows together seamlessly. The instrumental cues, which together strike an effective harmony between synths and orchestration, complement well Cea’s journey through a cascade of physical and emotional spaces. Whimsical turns and somber ruminations flow easily into each other, highlighting the serenity and tumult she and her family experience. (And there’s quite a devastating bit of this rollercoaster.)
The synthy, energetic “Cea and Tiffany Hang Out” is brimful of color, with the tight, playful sounds swirling around each other with an innocent joviality. “Rule Number One” has subtle shimmering synths and a delicate piano that together speak to a vibrant yet intimate sentiment. Cues like “Running Away” and “I Could Model” are centered on crystalline ambient soundscapes with the former employing a particularly memorable melody. Throughout the dozen cues on the album, the evocative central North of Normal theme is reflected, sometimes in a wink and sometimes in a more forthright fashion.
There are four vocal songs on the album — three new cuts inspired by North of Normal and then “Innocence,” the gorgeous Innerworld track that plays during the end credits of the film.
The “North of Normal” song is a catchy, classic Electric Youth number, featuring Griffin’s ethereal vocals and colorful synths that will stick to your brain cells long after the album finishes. The lyrics seem to focus on the circumstances and themes of the plot with great success. The similarly potent “How Long” is a fantastic modern synth-pop song and I hope it resonates accordingly. The propulsive, upbeat number features Griffin’s memorable vocal hooks supported by pulsating synths, a gorgeous synth solo, and a light drum machine. The song barely hits two minutes, though, and so the title is certainly apt. How long is the song? It’s too short!
“Love In Slow Motion” first showed up in 2022 as a collaboration with Sally Shapiro on the Swedish duo’s Sad Cities comeback album. This version, as I mentioned previously, is quite different from that first release. This time, it kicks off with a gorgeous piano turn and Griffin’s characteristically enchanting vocals, before a captivating, full arrangement of electronics and drums enter to punctuate the unmistakably pure emotion. It’s clearly inspired by the film, because it works quite well in the picture’s thematic context.
Several years into their dual-track, studio-album/film-score career, it’s clear that the duo can excel in both realms without sacrificing creative quality on either side. For the listener, it’s an easy sell. Electric Youth’s music has long had a cinematic quality to it — from the composition to the songwriting (and related world-building) to the performances of the work. However, they clearly rise to the occasion when it comes to an actual film score. They are mindful of the story, characters, mood, and creative intent of the project, cultivating a body of work that fits exactly into the picture how it should. Oh, and it means new Electric Youth music. So yeah, they might take a while in between studio albums, but rest assured that they’re hard at work making music to soundtrack your lives. What a lovely thing.
North of Normal (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is out now digitally via Milan Records/Sony. As mentioned earlier, the film is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
