Last Werewolf

Personnel: Glen Duncan (spoken vocals); Jacques Van Rhijn, Don Brosnan, Clive Painter, Jed Woodhouse, Stephen Coates.
Recording information: The House of The Clerkenwell Kid; Wolf.
Creator: Stephen Coates.
Projects such as Frank Black's soundtrack for `20s silent movie The Golem show that film soundtracks by indie artists are becoming more commonplace, but the Real Tuesday Weld -- aka Stephen Coates -- goes one better with The Last Werewolf, the musical accompaniment to Glen Duncan's book of the same name. This is Coates' second collaboration with Duncan; the first, I, Lucifer, provided music to the writer's tale of the Devil's return to Earth. It felt more insular than this set of songs, which chronicles a suicidal 200-year-old werewolf. The Last Werewolf is virtually a full-fledged rock opera, with Coates bringing along an inspired cast of collaborators, including Marcella Puppini and the rest of the Puppini Sisters, who add to "The Hunt"'s breathless cabaret whimsy, and Pinkie Maclure, whose smoky alto makes "Save Me" a torch song so convincing it'll give listeners déjà vu. However, Coates himself is The Last Werewolf's most varied player, swinging from "Wolfman"'s feral blues stomp to "(I Always Kill) The Things I Love"'s genteel croon to "Tear Us Apart"'s heartbroken synth pop with ease. Coates' finesse with styles as far-flung as electronic pop and `30s cabaret makes him the perfect artist to breathe musical life into a creature as changeable as a werewolf, something he does with extra poignancy on "Come Around" and his duet with Piney Gir, "Me and Mr. Wolf." Bold, sensitive, and evocative, this collaboration is another triumph for Duncan and Coates. ~ Heather Phares