Sofia Coppola’s favourite driving album
Throughout her filmography, music has always been vital to Sofia Coppola. Whether finding the perfect song to soundtrack a moment or making biopics about musicians, she’s always had great taste in tunes.
In fact, Coppola’s career really began with music. Her directorial debut came in the form of Hi-Octane, a wild TV series that saw her and Zoe Cassavetes interviewing cultural icons like Beck, Kim Gordon, Debbie Harry and more. Her movie soundtracks are held up as some of the finest, using unlikely modern tracks to great effect or working with artists like Air or Phoenix to compose the perfect atmospheric soundscapes.
Coppola seems to have great taste and a real ear for good music on-screen and off-screen. She’s married to Thomas Mars, the frontman of the French indie band Phoenix, so the pair lead a very musical life. When asked to pick her 12 favourite albums of all time, Phoenix’s United was high on the list.
Alongside music, one thing that seems to always crop up in Coppola’s work is cars. Most of her films feature moody car scenes as her characters stare wistfully out of the window. While a song plays gently in the background, her figures contemplate their life. It must be a moment the director knows well as she specifically recommends one record for the car.
Coppola picks out Gang Of Four’s Entertainment as one of her all-time favourite albums, stating, “Really good in the car — or on headphones in the airport if you’re feeling a little aggressive.” While maybe not the thoughtful, tender tracks usually played during her car scenes, her choice is an interesting insight into her road rage.
“‘Natural’s Not in It’ is my favourite song on it,” she continued. The new wave classic is one of many albums from the genre on her list. She also selected records from New Order and Roxy Music, proving to be a big fan of the 1980s alternative scene.
In her films, her car scenes have become iconic for their soundtrack moments. In The Virgin Suicides, her protagonist Lux stares out of the window while Air’s ‘Playground Love’ plays. In Priscilla, there is a moving moment soundtracked by Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’, a song of personal importance to Priscilla Presley. In The Bling Ring, the dramatic car crash scene features M.I.A’s ‘Bad Girls’, straying slightly closer to Coppola’s own upbeat car mixtape.
While Gang Of Four’s ‘Natures Not In It’ doesn’t soundtrack a car scene in her filmography, it does provide the opening credit track for Marie Antoinette.
