The relationship between composer Carter Burwell and writer/directors Joel & Ethan Coen is rare. Burwell's music – chameleon-like, eclectic, unexpected – perfectly matches the many genre-betiding excursions of the Coens' projects. Often working at a meta-textual level, the Coens' films are acutely aware of an audience being conscious of the story-telling manipulations that drive contemporary cinema. To this end, the Coens' use of Burwell's music always seeks ways to sidestep conventional methods of “emotionally cueing” an audience with snippets of mood music. Burwell's prime eclecticism lies in a strange mismatching whereby his cues at first appear to “not fit” – but eventually reveal a depth that is rooted in the complex story-telling craft of the Coens' narratives.