It’s not often I’d consider reviewing or even recommending film soundtracks; they often op for big chart hits or contain the one good song which we’ve all heard. But once in while you’ll find a collection of songs so perfectly matched that you can’t do without it.

Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown and Guy Ritchie’s Lock Stock,.. are both prime examples. So too is the soundtrack to Nicolas Winding Refn’s low-budget, arthouse noir Drive.

It’s one of the best pieces of music you could possibly buy in recent years. Built on retro synths, electronic touches and seductive vocals, it screams eighties cool and follows perfectly in the films unpredictability and highly addictive nature.

The soundtrack is a tour through mainly short scores of bliss and serial synth made landscapes made specifically for the film itself, like ‘I Drive’ and ‘Rubber Head’.

But within it are four superb cohesive stand out tracks that are sure to melt even the coldest of souls. The instrumental and slightly sinister ‘Tick of the Clock’ by Chromatics, leading track and film opener ‘Nightcall’ and my two favourites; the uplifting ‘A Real Hero’ by electronic Composer College, featuring Canadian duo Electric Youth, and heart-stopping ‘Under Your Spell’ by also Canadian band Desire.

‘Nightcall’ deserves its extra props as an amazing pop anthem too. Featuring Brazilian lead singer of CSS, Lovefoxxx, it bares all the characteristics of its producer father, Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo. Invoking an image of robot-meets-girl-on-a-dark-dance-floor kind of thing.

­True watching the film does add something when going through these tracks, even if it is just being transfixed by Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan’s lengthy, passionate silences. But such is Drive‘s sonic beauty and rare retro quality that it stands out as a great project no matter what the aesthetics.