Even on his early solo recordings,
William Tyler's thoughtful guitar compositions have shaded towards the gently cinematic, a trait compounded by the more expansive
Modern Country and
Goes West, his two wonderful full-band albums of the late 2010s. With just a few carefully chosen notes, he has the uncanny ability to bridge nostalgia with modernism, resulting in a uniquely American sound that somehow avoids many of the well-worn tropes of Americana and folk music. As the composer for director
Kelly Reichardt's poignant independent film First Cow,
Tyler is such a natural fit, it's a wonder he hasn't scored films before now. Scaling down from the more densely arranged work of his recent releases,
Tyler's minimalist cues echo the localized nature of the film, which takes place entirely in a small Oregon frontier settlement in the 1820s. The rickety pluck of an out-of-tune banjo introduces the titular "First Cow in the Territory," and soon fades into snatches of dialogue from the film. Tube amp humming,
Tyler turns briefly to his signature electric guitar sound for "An Opening," which establishes one of the score's primary motifs, though it is ultimately the only significant appearance of a modern instrument. The remainder of the soundtrack's eight rustic pieces are played on acoustic guitar, piano, lap dulcimer, harp, and various other organic instruments more appropriate to both the period and the humble nature of the drama, which centers largely around the friendship of two wayward frontiersmen. Like the film's narrative, the musical arcs are subtle, though not insubstantial. There is plenty of warmth, sadness, kindness, and quiet desperation in
Tyler's lovely pieces that drift liminally between musical score and ambient soundscapes, leaving plenty of room to roam among the gaps. As an artistic collaboration with
Reichardt and accompaniment to her warm-hearted tale,
Music From First Cow is a gem.