In 2004, Scrubs actor Zach Braff broke into the music world with his Grammy-winning soundtrack for his debut film Garden State. This month, he'll release his spiritual follow-up Wish I Was Here, with a similar star-studded soundtrack full of indie rock goodness. Today (July 7), the film's title track from Coldplay and Cat Power has been unleashed to the world via an NPR First Listen, and it's exactly the chilled out music one would expect.
The song, which features Cat Power on lead vocals and Coldplay as the musical accompaniment, recalls the Parachutes era of the latter band. A calm, collected and pensive piano intro leads into Cat Power's musical turn, where she adds perfectly light and feminine vocals to the soft song.
And the combination of the usually male-led Coldplay with Cat Power was no mistake, according to Braff.
"Chris had the idea that it would be sung by a woman. I thought that was a genius idea, because one of the things the film is about is a strong woman becoming the matriarch of her family. When Chris and I were talking, we both kind of simultaneously said, 'Cat Power.' I reached out to Chan Marshall and she and I met and really clicked," Braff said in an interview with NPR. "I set her up to watch the film in her apartment. The whole time she was watching she kept texting me all the different parts she was loving. She said yes the instant it was over."
Listen to the gloriously relaxing single "Wish I Was Here" over at NPR.
"Wish I Was Here" is the title single from the film of the same name, which is set to unroll in theatres beginning July 18. The soundtrack will precede the movie, with a July 15 release date.
Other artists on the Wish I Was Here soundtrack include Bon Iver, The Head and the Heart and The Shins.
