Amy Winehouse, Antonio Pinto, Amy: The Original Soundtrack, album reivew

Download: Some Unholy War; Back to Black; Love Is a Losing Game

Amy Winehouse, Antonio Pinto Amy: The Original Soundtrack

Arriving several months after the tragic documentary, this soundtrack has a waif-like quality that’s touchingly appropriate, with Amy Winehouse’s demos and live tracks interspersed with brief snippets of Antonio Pinto’s incidental music, ranging from furtive chugging strings (“Kidnapping Amy”) to anguished cello lamentation (“Poetic Finale”).

But Amy’s voice is the point here, captured in various stages, from sketching out a vague demo of “Like Smoke” to the duet with Tony Bennett on “Body and Soul”, for which she pulls out all the stops with her best Billie Holiday impression.

Her need for protection is a recurrent theme throughout, from the opening “Stronger Than Me” to a lilting, downtempo version of “Some Unholy War” stripped almost bare of instrumental armour. Contrarily, “Back to Black” opens with an acappella intro before seguing into the album version.