by Heather Phares 

The soundtrack to Julio Medem's critically acclaimed film Sex & Lucia features an original score by Alberto Iglesias and songs by Fangoria, Carlos Jean, and Mala Rodriguez. Iglesias' score takes a minimal approach, emphasizing ambient drones and brooding arrangements that emphasize the film's atmosphere of sensual longing. Pieces like "?Y Por Qué Te Voy a Creer?," "Bajo la Isla," "Encuentro," and "El Deseo de la Sangre" take the score's eerie eroticism to an extreme, while orchestral passages such as "?Puedo Hablar Contigo?," "Fotos," and "Lucia" balance their lush, slightly retro arrangements with a whimsical poignancy. Overall, the score carries on the movie's haunted feel, but is surprisingly evocative and listenable outside of that context. The pop songs at the end of the soundtrack tend to break the spell cast by Iglesias' hypnotic score, but offer some delights in their own right: Fangoria's "Mr. Hyde Visita el Tunel del Amor" sounds a bit like dance-pop sung by a Spanish Siouxsie Sioux, while Jean's "Give Me the Seventies" has an appropriately funky flair. While Sex and Lucia might not be the most cohesive soundtrack, Iglesias' powerful score more than makes up for any unevenness in the rest of the album.