Dragonfly saw a doctor (Kevin Costner) being contacted by his dead wife. The speed with which I can type the words "low-grade Sixth Sense cash-in" is rivalled only by the speed with which the film disappeared from cinemas; however, the film's massive budget and star leading man meant its poor box office performance came as a surprise to many. Jumping on board to provide the music was John Debney - and you may be surprised to hear that Debney has scored a huge number of the most successful films in the past few years - The Scorpion King, Jimmy Neutron, The Princess Diaries, Cats and Dogs, Spy Kids, The Emperor's New Groove, End of Days, I Know What You Did Last Summer - they may not be the greatest of films, but they performed very well. I'd say that is testament to Debney's versatility and professionalism (as much as, of course, excellent work by his agents).

The score itself is, by necessity, much like The Sixth Sense. While never quite raising itself to the same level, it's not far behind James Newton Howard's music. It teases, mesmerises, works a web around the listener. Great melody is not a feature - rather, Debney concentrates on building suspense through skilful orchestration and technique. The dramatic opening cue, driving and powerful, is a highlight; "Emily's Grave" is extremely beautiful, if tense; the final track, "Emily's Message Revealed", journeys through the human mind most successfully.

If there is one thing I don't find in Debney's work, it is his voice. He has scored plenty of films very well, but I find that one key ingredient missing. I honestly don't think I would be able to pick a John Debney score out in a line-up. Whether that is a problem for you is of course dependent on your tastes, but I would say that the very greatest film composers - I think of Miklós Rózsa, Alex North, Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, etc - manage (or managed) to score a huge variety of films and give them each very individual scores, which maintained the consistent sound of their own personality. I just don't hear that with Debney - he is the ultimate film music chameleon. (Of course, being chameleonic may well be seen as the ultimate gift to look for in a film composer.)

Dragonfly is an excellent album, its only fault being that it doesn't quite have that hook, that something special, to warrant coming back to it time after time.

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