The
Dave Cobb
-produced soundtrack for the fifth entry (and first prequel) in the Hunger Games franchise,
Music from and Inspired by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
is notably more stripped back and rustic in nature than its predecessors, in keeping with the film's setting and subtitle. A set of haunted country-folk ballads with a few lively bluegrass tunes thrown in for good measure, it also includes the similarly somber acoustic pop song "Can't Catch Me Now" by
Olivia Rodrigo
, which was written for the film by
Rodrigo
and song producer
Dan Nigro
. Much of the rest of the album is performed by lead actress
Rachel Zegler
, in only her second film after winning accolades for her big-screen breakthrough as Maria in
Steven Spielberg
's
West Side Story
. While she is in fine form here, some of the highlights from the 17-song set include additional songs by guests including
Molly Tuttle
("Bury Me Beneath the Willow"),
Bella White
("Burn Me Once"), and
Charles Wesley Godwin
, who delivers a road-weary, solo guitar-accompanied version of
David Rawlings
and
Gillian Welch
's "Winter's Come and Gone." The fictional
Covey Band
is featured on four tracks, including two with
Zegler
that are among those written by
Cobb
and Hunger Games novelist
Suzanne Collins
. Taking into account its consistently ash-tinted tone, the album enjoyed modest chart success abroad and landed in the Top 20 of Billboard's country albums chart and in soundtracks' Top Three. ~ Marcy Donelson