Jorge Drexler is known by many as the soft-spoken musician who won an Oscar in 2005 for the song “Al otro lado del rio” from The Motorcycles Diaries, and known by fewer (but *super passionate*) fans as one of the greatest living Spanish language cantautores today, with a gift for subdued melodies and graceful lyrics with profound yet non-cheesy sentimiento.
The Uruguayan singer-songwriter was at SXSW in Austin last month, not performing at a showcase (unfortunately!) but as a speaker at a panel on music, film and media. The occasion? For the first time, Drexler has composed the score of a film, The City of Your Final Destination, directed by James Ivory and starring Laura Linney and Anthony Hopkins. At the panel and as a request by the audience, Jorge did perform some of the songs from the film (see photo above.)
The movie, based on Peter Cameron’s 2002 novel by the same name, is about a grad student who travels to South America, and it is set in Uruguay (although it was filmed in Argentina.) It will be out in theaters later this Spring. This was Jorge’s first complete film score and the first time that Ivory worked with a new composer. In addition to the score, he also wrote two songs for the film which we’re hoping he also sings.
As for a new Jorge Drexler album, his publicist tells us he has started work on a new album with a tentative release date of February 2010.