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Coldplay and Cat Power Team Up for Zach Braff’s Wish I Was Here: Listen

2 minute read
Zach Braf and Jim Parsons at the Los Angeles premiere of Wish I Was Here
Zach Braf and Jim Parsons at the Los Angeles premiere of Wish I Was Here.Matt Sayles—Invision/AP
By Nolan Feeney

Coldplay kicked off the soundtrack to Zach Braff’s Garden State in 2004, so it’s only right that British rockers team up with the writer-director for his second film, Wish I Was Here, a decade later. Braff says the brand-new song, which borrows its title from the movie (out July 18) and features the smoky voice of Cat Power, is his favorite song on the record. That’s saying something, since the competition is steep: Wish I Was Here also features contributions from the Shins and Bon Iver.

Braff explained how the song came together to NPR, where the track premiered:

“Chris had the idea that it would be sung by a woman. I thought that was a genius idea, because one of the things the film is about is a strong woman [Kate Hudson’s character] becoming the matriarch of her family. When Chris and I were talking, we both kind of simultaneously said, ‘Cat Power.’ I reached out to Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) and she and I met and really clicked. I set her up to watch the film in her apartment. The whole time she was watching she kept texting me all the different parts she was loving. She said yes the instant it was over.”

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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com