Various - Crazy Heart soundtrack

This is a tidy, cohesive package for a soundtrack album.

Jeff Bridges is a decent singer, but his Merle Haggard-meets-Waylon Jennings growl still carries that slightly unconvinced tone you sometimes hear in actors who step behind the mic.

The songs he's furnished with, from the pen of T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton, are solid enough – the tender Hold On You, outlaw blues for Somebody Else, punch-drunk zydeco rhythm for Fallin' & Flyin' (later reprised with help from Colin Farrell, who handles Gone, Gone, Gone quite well), and the Leonard Cohen-ish Brand New Angel.

Actually, among the thespians it's Robert Duvall who delivers the best surprise with the short and simple Live Forever.

Filling the gaps are contributions from Ryan Bingham and Sam Phillips, classics like Buck Owens' Hello Trouble and Jennings' Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way, and gems from Townes Van Zandt and Lightnin' Hopkins.

Best tracks: Somebody Else, Gone, Gone, Gone.

• Reviewed by Nick Ward. CDs for review supplied by Everyman, Nelson

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