Long awaited collaboration from producer-composer Danger Mouse and Italian composer Daniele Luppi. More than five years in the making, Rome features many of the surviving performers of classic 60s and 70s Ennio Morricone scores, as well as contributions from Jack White and Norah Jones. It's the kind of project that appears grand in scale just on paper. It brings together the successful composer and arranger in Luppi, Dangermouse's groundbreaking work as both producer and composer, a predilection for using vintage recording equipment, years of shared orchestral experience, and the vocal contrast of White's gritty blues and Jones' more soulful crooning. It all comes together remarkably well. The album is filled with cinematic instrumentals that are paired with a few showcases for the headliners. If you took away the vocal pieces the album could easily pass as something that was unearthed after languishing for nearly 50 years in obscurity. Includes the songs: "The Rose With the Broken Neck," "Season's Trees," "Black," and "The World." Fifteen tracks in all. Released by Third Man Records with a download code.

• black vinyl pressing
• printed insert
• digital download included
• original release year: 2015
• music label: Third Man Records 2022

reviewed by Le Haim 10/2015