It’s been a busy 2011 for Johnny Marr — sort of. Allow us to digress: Back in February, Marr discussed his plans to go at it alone for awhile, potentially recording two solo LPs in 18 months. Then, in April, he expanded on those ideas, discussing his recent collaborations in film; in other words, more soundtracks. Now, he returns a month later, with not only more assurance of future work, but some actual material to soak up (via TwentyFourBit).

Both works are for film-related endeavors. The first is a snippet of his score for director Tony Krantz’ forthcoming feature-film, The Big Bang, due out May 24th on DVD (via Spinner). The film stars Antonio Banderas, featuring a cameo by Snoop Dogg, and is set in both Los Angeles and New Mexico, described as a noirish crime tale. The leaked track “Big Bang and Dig” picks up where Marr left off on last year’s Inception, only it’s a tad more Western. As he tells Spinner: “I really tried not to think about anything done by Ry Cooder or Brian Eno or Ennio Morricone. I tried to stay true to the script, to write something entirely from my own heart.” It’s hard to not hear Morricone slip in here, but he does a good job anyhow. All in all, it’s the sort of track that would make its way into a Robert Rodriguez flick.

The next track is a little more poppy (and itchingly catchy), retreating back to Marr’s more traditional work (a la The Smiths or even his solo material). Titled “Life is Sweet”, the tune will soundtrack the upcoming season of IFC’s David Cross comedy, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. It’s a punchy number that will likely clock your memory for an hour or two. It’s a successful theme song.

Let’s hope Marr continues to deliver.

“Big Bang and Dig” (The Big Bang Score)

“Life is Sweet” (Todd Margaret Theme)