The Waiting Room has been biding its time, waiting for a general release since it was premiered at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival. It was made on a small budget over several years and backed by Tim Rice, among others, who wrote the lyrics to one of its songs. The booklet, featuring pictures of trains and stations, arrivals and departures, suggests something along the lines of Brief Encounter in a 21st-century setting and Edmund Butt’s attractive music pursues a not unconnected romantic vein. It’s scored for small orchestra, with a contemporary overlay of subtle effects from guitar, piano, harp, blurred strings and edgy pop sounds to convey the non-stop soundtrack in a city like London.

An irregular tune represents “The Waiting Room”; the guitar lends an urban touch both here and in “Anna Waite” where its twang mingles with extra-terrestrial scoring. “Bedtime Stories” introduces new material demonstrating Butt and Julian Kershaw as dab-hands as string arrangers. “Dance With Me”, “Bath Time”, with piano chords imitating the drip of a tap, and “Miss You”, are further manifestations of their sure touch, the tone of this last cue summing up the wistful ambience of much of this score.

A catchy pop song, “Remember”, encloses some natty close-harmony writing while “And in the end there is love” plays as if from a scratchy 45rpm disc. “Waiting for something” gives lyricist Rice his opportunity to pull at the heart strings: “This was the end of the line / This was as far as it goes / This was a heart in decline / Then I met you.” Butt earns a well deserved round of applause for coming up with a score devoid of all the clichés of contemporary movie scoring. The chamber-like quality of much of his music is very engaging. I recommend it.