Musings on the New Moon soundtrack 

The soundtrack to the second instalment in the Twilight series, New Moon, is the perfect album to which to reflect on the pain of a first love gone awry. Vampire with a conscience Edward (Robert Pattison) has abandoned our hopelessly naïve human heroine Bella (Kristen Stewart), ostensibly for her own good. When she turns to werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) for comfort, a supernatural love triangle develops. 

The New Moon soundtrack, which was released before schedule after an Internet leak and reportedly went on to sell 115 000 copies within the first three days of its release, was put together by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas. Most important to Patsavas, whose credentials include popular TV series Gossip Girl and The OC, was that the songs have a sense of cohesion. “All these bands can play on a festival together,” she says. 

The New Moon soundtrack is distinctly more sombre and contemplative than its predecessor, reflecting the sadder themes of the movie’s plot. Songs like Anya Marina’s musing “Satellite Heart” and Lykke Li’s pleading “Possibility” replace the likes of Linkin Park’s “Leave Out All the Rest” and Paramore’s “Decode”. The only band to make a second appearance on the album is rock group Muse, swapping the heavy riffs of “Supermassive Black Hole” for the tender “I Belong to You”.  

The first single from the album is “Meet Me at the Equinox” by popular indie band Death Cab for Cutie. The band and its members have taken over the role played by Paramore’s Hayley Williams in the first film by actively promoting both the New Moon soundtrack and the movie. According to  producers, the next single will be either “Possibility” by Lykke Li, which is reported to have a prominent place in the movie, or The Killers’ “A White Demon Love Song”.