ave you heard Wes Anderson? Not of the filmmaker. Nor of his outstanding soundtrack track record: how he reintroduced a generation to the majesty of Love in Bottle Rocket, re-channeled mod fury in Rushmore, and breathed new life into your weird uncle's '70s record collection through Royal Tenenbaums. That's not what I'm talking about. Have you heard him? Have you listened to his work? Put on one of his films, turn off the screen/TV, but leave the sound on? We have seen Wes paint "Ooh La La" as a slow motion ensemble celebration; how do you see it? Different image perhaps, but same affect. Rarely has a filmmaker with such a fine eye for visual detail also accomplished equally exceptional aural feats.

However, the trouble with his last film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was its confusion. Not just in the sense that the protagonist remained in a slurred haze the bulk of the film. Rather, the heart of the film felt off-balance, as if standing with landlubber legs on a boat for the first time. Dialogue filled space, soundtrack music licked the sides and the film came... and went. With one exception: Seu Jorge.

The idea had, and perhaps needed, no real explanation: the synergy of Anderson and Jorge spontaneously transformed the idea of a quaint entertainer crewmate character into a thread of Brazilian takes on Bowie. Simple? Hardly. Given that the proposal bordered on café cliché when one merely mouthed, "Bossa Rebel Rebel," the round of blehs threatened to be deafening. However, in his calloused hands and charming embrace, Jorge eased out both the needed pathos to the film and a newfound subtlety to well-worn territory. Though the spotlight rightfully followed the tortured path of the film's namesake, Jorge's work quietly eased the story's soul.

The Steve Zissou DVD treated the keen by documenting these on-screen performances in full. Set against a glittering Mediterranean backdrop, Jorge delivered his effortless charisma to a captive audience. The footage seemed a welcome fortune, documents of moments not to be repeated. However, in true completist fashion, Anderson ensured that Jorge also record these same songs in a studio in Rome. Though unused for the film, these recordings have now been released as The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions.

Though comparatively canned in the confines of a booth, TLASS still captures the essence of Jorge's starboard accomplishments. Pacified rockers like "Rebel, Rebel" breeze by with a quiet charm, while "Suffragette City" looks over its shoulder with an easy grin. "Ziggy Stardust" and "Queen Bitch" are left intact and surprisingly electrifying as Jorge chortles and squeezes out each lyric. The absence of a breeze makes the studio versions of "Rebel, Rebel" and "Rock'n Roll Suicide" a tad still, but also offers an opportunity to emphasize Jorge's lyrical makeover. "I changed the words quite a lot," he said in an interview earlier this year with The Guardian. "I wanted each song to be about a different character. So, 'Lady Stardust' is about Ned Plimpton [Owen Wilson's character] wanting to be a good father, and 'Changes' is about Steve Zissou [Bill Murray's character] changing himself as a person, although nobody who doesn't speak Portuguese is going to know that" (Anderson actually did not realize this until after the fact, as he pointed out in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: "I guess the idea wasn't effectively communicated to him that he was to sing translated lyrics of Bowie songs"). In this manner, Jorge updates the youthful yearning of Bowie's songs, a reminder of their perpetual restlessness.

Although a lack of knowledge of Portuguese blocks a full appreciation, TLASS remains invocative of the film's plight. On one hand, the source material writhes with adolescent vigor, struggling to break out. Yet Jorge's come-what-may calm functions like Zissou's deep breathing sessions. In this manner, the compilation captures the visual qualities of Anderson's weary journey into the twilight of life. While the film may have stumbled at points, consider TLASS a second chance to sit back, close your eyes, and watch the film unfold.