I’m taking yesterday’s news that Alicia Keys is the “top contender” to sing the theme song for “Quantum of Solace” with a grain of salt. I’ve had my eye on this story for a while, and since initial frontrunner Amy Winehouse became a hazy prospect, any number of names have been thrown into the pot.
First it was (God help us) Beyonce. Then the Bond producers were apparently “set on” Leona Lewis. Then Duffy, a soul revivalist in the Winehouse vein, began dropping hints that she had the gig. Then Duran Duran. (You tell me why.) Then Annie Lennox. Even Jack White’s name has been bandied around. Now Keys.
The Keys rumour appears moderately more credible than some of the others, but if so, she strikes me as an odd choice. All the best Bond themes (“Goldfinger,” “You Only Live Twice,” “Nobody Does It Better,” since you asked) project a sense of danger, sex appeal even, amid the lush arrangements. Keys’ edgeless, uber-earnest R&B just doesn’t fit the bill, to my mind.
The names put forward so far suggest that the producers are looking for more of a throwback sound after the last two attempts at modernising the formula (Chris Cornell’s oddly dated-sounding “You Know My Name” and Madonna’s plain dismal “Die Another Day”) didn’t exactly set the world alight. The arrival of the Bond theme used to be an event in itself – the amount of press over this installment’s vocalist suggests the producers are trying to recapture that level of anticipation.
You’d expect the year’s most discussed movie song to be a cinch for an Oscar nomination, whoever lands the gig, but history suggests otherwise. Only three Bond themes (“Live and Let Die,” “Nobody Does It Better,” and – ugh – “For Your Eyes Only”) have ever been nominated, all unsuccessfully. But with the slate of Best Song contenders this year looking sparser than usual, and “Casino Royale” having given the franchise a major boost in cred, the odds of a nomination look better than usual. The producers should therefore be especially canny about who they choose.