Sometimes when there is action, we just tend to avoid those moments with music, and have music in a separate part that allows you to dream and to make your mind up on where you're at in the story.
I'm still exploring. As I look back, Nénette Et Boni had a massive effect on the album we made after it, Curtains. I think it's been like that all the way through. Trouble Every Day had a massive effect on Can Our Love... I think it's allowed us to raise our heads, take a bit of a left turn, explore different avenues, and then come back to our own thing and see it in a different way.
I think it started with both the shows and the box set from finishing White Material. I think we were also pretty desperate to get it released. We felt pretty proud of it, and it just escalated from there. We were thinking about playing some live shows, doing the soundtracks live. It was just trying to shine a little light on this 15 years of work we've done.
When I see a movie, the music often gets in the way for me. It's something that, say, for myself and Claire, we never, ever speak about. We never speak about describing emotion. I think it's about color and movement. And I think it's important to let the images be the melody, as well, a lot of the time - to create a kind of a backing for that, to let it sing.
We're doing all the shows as an eight-piece band. There's so many different kinds of palettes for each film that we've had to find a balance of musicians who can shift from one instrument to another to make all those sounds for us come to life.
There seems to be such an insecurity with a lot of films. When they're made, you have to pack every moment to feel something and use the music in that way. That's something I just naturally don't feel.
I'm so aware when you make a film, there are so many elements to get right. So many people with such important jobs. You know, it's terrible. I walk away from a film going, "The cinematography was great, wasn't it? But the music wasn't so good. The casting wasn't great."
