Various Artists

The Hottest State

Soundtrack - Songs by Jesse Harris

(Hickory)

Record Review by Corey Podell

You know those types of movies that stay with you a day or two after you leave the theater?  You think about certain lines, or moments that for some reason struck a chord deep inside? Well, that’s exactly what I felt when leaving Ethan Hawke’s film based on his first novel, The Hottest State, a story written and directed by Hawke that explores the beauty and the pain of first love, you know - the kind that makes you think you’ll die without it.  The film follows Will, a 21-year-old actor trying to make his mark in New York City.  The film follows the weeks - that’s right, only weeks - that William meets and falls for the beautiful if not slightly frigid singer/songwriter Sarah. 

Although the story itself is pretty universal for anyone who has been in young love, what made this movie so haunting and what made it stay with me for a few days after I left the theater, was the beautiful soundtrack written entirely by singer/songwriter Jesse Harris.  Although the songs were all penned by Harris, he only performs two of them, “It Will Stay With Us” and “Dear Dorothy”.  For the other tunes he got the likes of Cat Power, Willie Nelson, M. Ward, Norah Jones and Emmylou Harris to contribute.  And just how did he get all of these heavyweights to perform his originals?  Jesse Harris has been around for awhile, mostly as a behind the scenes maestro, collaborating with Norah Jones and subsequently winning a Grammy.  Lately, however, Harris has come more into the limelight with his critically acclaimed album, Feel and a part as a member of the character Sarah’s band in The Hottest State.  The soundtrack he helmed will only do more to catapult Harris into mainstream success and notoriety – some have compared his thoughtful and catchy lyrics to a young Paul Simon.

The tracks are both slow and fast, some of the songs being featured as Sarah and her band’s songs in the film, while others were set as the background music on Will and Sarah’s journey from New York, to a vacation in Mexico and back to New York again.  Highlights on the album include Willie Nelson’s dry yet pretty version of “Always Seem to Get Things Wrong,” reminiscent of the character Will’s hometown in the dry panhandle of Texas.  Rocha is featured on three of the tracks including the sweet Spanish diddy “Ya No Te Veria Mas” (Never See You), and Leslie Feist, known best as Feist (and from her numerous Apple and Verizon commercials) lends her voice to “Somewhere Down the Road,” an almost perfect lyrical masterpiece.  Legendary Emmylou Harris sings “The Speed of Sound,” a simple song about searching for love, and with other tracks performed by Bright Eyes, Cat Power, M. Ward and Norah Jones, this soundtrack stands on its own as a journey through love one understands without even seeing the film.