Gatsby delivers audacious soundtrack

Leonardo DiCaprio with Carey Mulligan in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Source: Supplied

THE dramatic vocal performances of Jay-Z's Angels on Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby will keep the soundtrack in the charts for the rest of the year.

While the music's executive producer Jay-Z opens the 14-track record, nine of the songs feature some of the best female voices of our times.

It is no surprise that the reworking of the Amy Winehouse hit Back To Black by his missus Beyonce with Andre 3000 may be the most controversial musical moment from Gatsby.

It is almost unrecognisable from the original, darker and so cut and pasted, it gives you the jitters after a couple of minutes.

The entire soundtrack is epic and edgey with orchestral flourishes or Jazz Age stylings underpinning most of the songs.

Will.i.am's new offering Bang Bang channels the Charleston, features some nifty scatting and Louis Armstrong-inspired vocals with a rather naughty lyric hook.

His Black Eyed Peas bandmate Fergie teams with Q-Tip and GoonRock on A Little Party Never Killed Nobody, which is also heavy on the jazz meets house vibe and could enjoy singles success.

Listen to the The Great Gatsby soundtrack sampler below.

Lana Del Rey (Young And Beautiful) and Florence And The Machine (Over The Love) were commissioned to write new songs for the film which are entirely what you would expect from both great artists and will no doubt prove to be captivating soundbeds in the film. And hits off it, should they be released commercially.

Another original tune hails from The XX and their slavish fans will revel in its dark and insistent backing, metronomic beat and breathy, deep vocals which climax with an orchestral swell.

Sia delivers a powerful performance worthy of Adele on Kill And Run which could easily also serve as a Bond theme.

While the Back To Black cover may not tickle everyone's musical fancy, Jack White proves almost understated but compelling on his treatment of U2's Love is Blindness while Emilie Sande is perfect on the jazzified Crazy In Love, staying faithful to Beyonce's melody.

Bryan Ferry's whispered smokey barroom reimagining of his own hit Love Is The Drug comes off a little bit creepy but a hell of a lot cool.

One of the finds unearthed by Jay-Z and Luhrmann is the big soul vocal of Coco O of Danish electro duo Quadron on Where The Wind Blows which is bedded by some old time piano sampling.

And of course there's Gotye's Heart's A Mess - an old ''hit'' here but likely to keep the fan fires burning for him overseas where it won't be as familiar to his very large fan base.

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