Get a Taste of ‘Moonshine’ From Wes Anderson’s ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’
Wes Anderson movies have been described as raucous, whimsical and even a little bit twee. “Moonshine,” off the soundtrack to Anderson’s upcoming Grand Budapest Hotel, is likewise simultaneously all of those things. For the song and soundtrack, Anderson once again teamed up with film composer Alexandre Desplat, who he worked with on Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom. As is Anderson’s trademark, the score is energetic, lighthearted, and often seems to be in fast forward.
Watch a supercut of Wes Anderson’s slow-motion scenes
The song opens with the rapid finger picking of a single fiddle, and the Old World charm shines throughout. The solo stops with a sharp ping and then the entire orchestra appears, reiterating the theme with dozens of booming instruments. As the song flies forward, it gets even more boisterous, adding in whistling, barked commands in the Russian language, and even an entire choir.
“Where and when can a film composer use alpen horns, whistles, balalalikas, organ, male choir, bells and cymbalum?” Desplat asked in a statement. “Well, only in Wes’s World.”
The original soundtrack to the Grand Budapest Hotel is out on ABKCO Records March 4th.