Hot Track: Alex Turner, "Piledriver Waltz"

Earlier this summer, UK director Richard Ayoade’s debut Submarine slipped quietly into American theaters, set to a gorgeous 6-song soundtrack from the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner.

The film is a coming-of-age dramedy that takes more than a few pages from Wes Anderson’s book, documenting the romantic and sexual flubs of 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) and his girlfriend Jordanna (Yasmin Paige).

And since we’re talking teenage first love, both the “life is wonderful and I <3 you so much" montage and subsequent (beautifully shot) "everything sucks and I want to die" scene need a soundtrack that drives home the intensified emotion of Oliver's experiences, while not making light of or detracting from them. Turner's contribution is a mere 19 minutes of acoustic guitar and piano-based songs that make up the Submarine EP, starting with a brief acoustic arrangement of “Stuck On the Puzzle,” moving to the blissful “Hiding Tonight” (used during the aforementioned montage), then to love song “Glass In The Park.”

“It’s Hard to Get Around the Wind” is a folky ode to the associated depression and frustration at being stuck in a rut, and then Turner breaks your heart with “Piledriver Waltz” — and lines like, “I heard the news that you’re planning/to shoot me out of a cannon.”

Have a listen below:

[audio:/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/06-Piledriver-Waltz.mp3]

Alex Turner, “Piledriver Waltz”