Listen to Jennifer Lawrence singing Lumineers ballad for Hunger Games: Mockingjay soundtrack

Jennifer Lawrence brings depths of feeling to her performance in the latest ‘Hunger Games’ movie

Aoife Kelly

She's one of the leading actresses of her generation with an Oscar already under her belt at the age of just 24.

Now the Hunger Games star is flexing her musical muscles with a haunting take on the Lumineers folk ballad 'The Hanging Tree'.

The song will feature on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 score album and was written by Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins who includes it in the book.

"The idea for the song came from the book...Suzanne Collins wrote the lyrics and the idea was that it was an old Appalachian folk song that her father had taught her," director Francis Lawrence said during an interview with AOL BUILD.

"So I knew we needed a melody like that. And the Lumineers had written a really beautiful song for the Catching Fire soundtrack, and I thought they could probably tackle something like that if they were interested.

"So I called them up...and the next day they sent me a recording of somebody whistling the tune and also a woman singing it. And it was perfect."

The score album is separate to the Lorde-led movie soundtrack.

JLaw had joked on SNL that she sounded "like a deer that has been caught in a fence" when she sings but the star has received praise for her efforts.

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