Alberto Iglesias has been working with Almodóvar since the mid-’90s—a period of time during which the director transitioned from madcap humor (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) to one of the subtler and more imaginative dramatists of his generation. Like all of his Almodóvar work (and like Almodóvar’s work in general), the grace of Iglesias’ soundtrack for 2021’s Parallel Mothers is its balance between intimacy and melodrama: It’s never too big, but it certainly doesn’t hold back either. And as much as the music taps into the classic hallmarks of soundtrack romance, it vibrates with a quiet intensity that borders on noir: A love story, with a knife in its coat.