HAUNTING, achingly beautiful, angry, harrowing, and joyous – the Broadchurch soundtrack is as emotionally charged as the show it is taken from.

The new album of songs composed for the TV show has now been released on CD after a successful digital outing last year.

It features 13 songs from both series one and two.

All have been created by Olafur Arnalds, a young Icelandic composer.

Arnalds’ music is a haunting mixture of synths, violin, tribal drums, piano, avant-garde electronica and eerie ambience.

It’s no surprise to learn perhaps that show creator Chris Chibnall listened to Arnalds’ work while writing the first series, so well does the atmospheric sound fit with the high drama and emotion of the Broadchurch story.

The score was created for a string quartet, piano and synthesizer and recorded in an empty church in Reykjavik.

The soundtrack reminded me of Scandinavian noir, such are its icy tones, and the knowledge that it juxtaposes with the warmth and sunshine of the Jurassic Coast in Broadchurch, gives it an extra prominence.

But even if you are not a Broadchurch fan, this mesmerising collection of songs will hold you from start to finish.

As a listener I got lost in the wide soundscape – sometimes stripped back with just a tinkling of a piano or a long-held violin note and sometimes crashing in with a violence, anger and raw emotion.

It’s a powerful and moving experience from start to finish, the music builds up in layers, rising and falling like waves crashing down.

There are only two songs with vocals used on the album – So Close, the closing credit music for the first series and So Far, the closing credits for the second, both sung by Arnor Dan.

The tension is palpable during Suspects, while Excavating the Past is achingly haunting, sad, lonely and glorious.

This is a hugely emotional, uplifting and other-worldly album, which would sit as well in the CD collections of fans of classical music, those who enjoy the haunting hits of Massive Attack or Portishead, or simply those who have loved the series.

Timed to coincide with the album release, Arnalds will be touring around the UK and Ireland in February and will be making a stop at the Electric Palace in Bridport on February 23.