The latest releases reviewed.

MARK ISHAM Lions for Lambs Varese Sarabande ****

After his successful collaborations on Quiz Show and A River Runs Through It, composer Mark Isham has created a third score for director Robert Redford. Freed from the restraints of either the historical or the pastoral, Isham has delivered a dense score that manages to be both dramatic and thoughtful - the perfect combination for Redford's liberal drama about the war in Iraq. Weaving spare lyrical strings with propulsive electronic percussion, the sometime New Age Windham Hill artist combines strong themes with warm colours and layered textures to produce a dynamic action score with emotional heft - a bold contrast to his recent atmospheric score for Paul Haggis's similarly talky war-in-Iraq-themed In the Valley of Elah. With the release of two more new Isham scores (Gracie and Reservation Road by year's end), a bumper 2007 finds the maverick scorer tackling the mainstream with wit and heart. www.isham.com JOCELYN CLARKE

Download tracks: A New Plan, Todd's Decision