Karen O and the Kids - Where the Wild Things Are

 The singer from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs made a children’s record. This is not a bad thing. For his adaptation of the Maurice Sendak storybook, Where the Wild Things Are, director Spike Jonze recruited Karen O to record the soundtrack which manages to capture the spirit of the book while still delivering an album enjoyable and sometimes transcendent in its own right.

Backed by the Kids-—a slew of Pitchfork-approved dork-rock luminaries, including Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmates, as well as members of Deerhunter, Liars, The Greenhornes and others, Ms. O tones things down a bit without Kidz-Bopping it up. The album’s sound is sparse, giving her singing voice a chance to breathe. This is a departure from her trademark yelp and her band’s typical frenetic, jarring pulse, instead going with a more affecting, subdued sound hinted at by the Yeahs’ slower songs.

What results are some undeniably infectious tracks, with soaring, sing-along choruses reminiscent of the Arcade Fire minus the cloying histrionics and earnest preciousness. The Kids provide intimate instrumentation, without receding into chamber-pop pabulum and ham-handed orchestral arrangements, making great use of marimba, ambient reverb and some surprisingly anachronistic synthesizers. There are some fantastic pop songs, notably anthemic “Capsize” and bittersweet “Hideaway.”

For all of its achievements, however, the album is, at its heart, a companion to the film. A lot of the songs, though often beautiful and usually masterfully crafted, don’t pass muster on their own, instead serving as the film’s emotional reinforcement.