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Ryan Gosling delivers a banger in Barbie.

Those who have already viewed the film might say the pair missed a few obvious opportunities. There’s no sly feature of Matchbox Twenty’sPush,used spectacularly in the film as a tongue-in-cheek anthem of patriarchal dominance,or even Indigo Girls’Closer to Fine,which Gerwig has Barbie sing at full voice to evoke its enduring pull as a teen-girl rite of passage. Even a Pavement song might’ve been fun,seeing as how,in the film,Stephen Malkmus becomes fodder for a Ken’s trite musical mansplaining.

But Gerwig is smarter than that. Such nostalgic swings would’ve hampered the soundtrack’s pop-as-product vibe:the aural tie-in to a movie about a Mattel doll has to be wholly of the moment! And so we get fun,if inessential,inclusions from PinkPantheress (the piningAngel),Gayle (an enjoyable nu-metal update on Crazy Town’sButterfly),and Karol G (reggaeton trackWatati).

It might also explain the album’s most controversial omission:Aqua’sBarbie Girl,the film’s candy-coloured,over-the-top conscience,is barely there. Gerwig apparently had to be convinced by her star (and producer) Margot Robbie to even include the song on the soundtrack,but she achieves a coup of sorts:the song features as an interpolation onBarbie World by the Harajuku Barbie herself,Nicki Minaj,and her heir apparent Ice Spice. If it loses much of the original’s campy charm,well,this is 2023. What says 2023 more than a soulless interpolation of a ’90s pop-house hit?

Is the whole thing a groundbreaking listen? Well,no. Is it at times a goofy novelty? Well,yes. Would you play it all the way through again and again? No,but does anyone listen to music like that any more? At its best,it’s a time capsule. Maybe in 30 years we’ll be looking at theBarbie soundtrack the same way as we do,I dunno,theTank Girl soundtrack. For now,it’s useful Peloton pop.

Half the songs – like Haim’sHomeandForever&Again by Sydney’s own The Kid Laroi – would fit snugly into their artist’s own discographies. Dua Lipa’sDance the Night,which she performs in the film as Mermaid Barbie,is the sort of slick disco track,all soaring strings and handclaps,that she’s made her bread and butter. Charli XCX’s ridiculously catchySpeed Drive evokes her enduring anthemVroom Vroom but throws in a new-wave nod to her underratedSucker-era classicLondon Queen.

Other songs seem ready-made for Barbie’s inevitable Broadway musical debut. Sam Smith’sMan I Am is a funny paean to hetero-male power,delivered like a lost member of Right Said Fred. “This one is for the boys!” they deadpan over an electronic chug. Billie Eilish’sWhat Was I Made For?,the piano ballad that closes the film,finds some metaphorical heft in Barbie’s Pinocchio complex (although I could’ve sworn that was Phoebe Bridgers singing).

And then there’s the film’s showstopper:the power balladI’m Just Ken,sung by Ryan Gosling with chest-heaving brio andFlashdance energy. “I’m just Ken,anywhere else I’d be a 10 … Is it my destiny to live a life of blond fragility?” he sings,wind machine blowing.

Given Gosling’s history as a Mouseketeer alongside Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears (let’s ignore his alt-folk era,Dead Man’s Bones),I probably would’ve preferred Gosling get his boy band moment,something like 4-Town’sNobody Like U from Pixar’sTurning Red(a timeless jam). But I can also appreciate the intention:this is exceptional Oscar bait,judging by the enthusiastic applause that met the song at my film screening. If Gosling isn’t there on stage performing it for best song at the next Academy Awards,the world loses.

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