With 2022's
Elvis
, director
Baz Luhrmann
turned the life of the legendary rock icon
Elvis Presley
into a cinematic fever-dream fairy tale. So, it's fitting that the soundtrack follows suit, offering a mix of
Presley
's original recordings (albeit heavily remixed and edited for the film) alongside cover versions by contemporary artists and some newly penned songs inspired by the singer's life and work. What's interesting about the remixes of the legacy recordings featured here is just how well they work. Tracks like "Suspicious Minds," "Craw-Fever," and "Burning Love" reframe
' warm vocals in vibrantly amped sonic textures, beats, and instrumentation that feel like hyper-colored versions of the original recordings. Similarly, the few original tunes are highly stylized, as with
Doja Cat
's swaggering hip-hop anthem "Vegas," which juxtaposes her contemporary rap against a sample of
Big Mama Thornton
's 1952 version of "Hound Dog." The cover tunes, some of which are meant to mimic the original recordings for use in the film, are more faithful in tone.
Stevie Nicks
and
Chris Isaak
's wryly campy duet on "Cotton Candy Land" could easily have hit the charts in 1963. Also surprisingly compelling are lead actor
Austin Butler
's versions of
classics like "Hound Dog" and "Baby, Let's Play House," both of which sound like they could have been recorded live at Sun Studios in the 1950s. The same is true of former American Idol singer
Les Greene
's goosebump-inducing inhabitation of "Tutti Frutti" that feels like he's literally channeling the spirit of the
Little Richard
. Elsewhere, we get equally inspired versions of
tracks, like
Kasey Musgraves
' low-key bedroom pop version of "Can't Help Falling in Love,"
Maneskin
's garage power-ballad reading of "If I Can Dream," and
Jazmine Sullivan
's gospel and R&B-infused take of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child." While none of these recordings will supplant
' original work in popular culture, they work as post-modern homage to his legacy and nicely reflect the eye-popping aesthetic of
Luhrmann
's film. ~ Matt Collar