Wes Anderson’s latest film Asteroid City hits theaters this Friday, while its soundtrack comes to DSPs the same day. Among the Anderson signature, period-appropriate recordings and composer Alexandre Desplat’s score are a pair of original songs by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker. These include a song inspired by a scene in the film, “You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep,” and a song that is performed in the film, “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven).” The latter is an absolute hootenanny and takes place during what my editor calls “the best scene” of the film. You can check it out below.
Now, that being said, I would like to dispute his assertion via this post’s headline that “Dear Alien” has the Best Original Song category at next year’s Academy Awards all sewn up. This is because, of course, of the news that Jack Black’s Super Mario Bros. Movie contribution, “Peaches,” is also Oscar-eligible for 2024. And look, I know that the Oscars are usually a stuffy affair, in which the artistic value of animation as a whole is often overlooked (unless Disney and/or Pixar are involved), but Jack Black is equally beloved by the Academy as Wes Anderson and I’m willing to bet that “Dear Alien” won’t end up being half as culturally ubiquitous as “Peaches.” Dinner’s gonna be on you, Phil!
The Asteroid City soundtrack is due June 23 via American Empirical Pictures, Inc.