The combo music and video games are working in symbiosis since there is music in video games. Here’s a small listening session of artists that could be a part of these imagined worlds.
It’s been a while since I wanted to touch on the question of music and video games on the blog. And it’s actually, and only, the second article on the matter here. So update your graphic and sound cards, and let’s jump right in.
EMOTIONAL POWER-UP
It’s a fact, I need to play and discover Outer Wilds fully this year. I’ve heard too many great things about it and yet still haven’t found time to play it. Apart from some images and its concept (which is basically down to exploring a solar system in a 22-minute loop), I only really know its original score.
There, the infinity of space is unfolding, first in an earthy and terrestrial sound before stretching in textured and light notes. Composed by Andrew Prahlow, it’s a journey in itself, of which the praises are proportional to the emotional shock players feel once they’ve completed the game.
I wonder, will I find this already fabulous soundtrack even more powerful after living the story for which it’s been created? If I’m pretty sure it will be the case, it’s because, in my experience, it has happened before.
This question, however, also makes me ask myself if there’s a specific music genre that is made for gaming, or if any could be added and see its aura grow exponentially… So, here, I gather ideas and discover music that usually I don’t fully get into.
IN SPACE
Let’s go back to Outer Wilds as the starting point. The track Outer Wilds is based on that light guitar and a repetition, adding to it more and more on each loop, changing its textures radically. That’s when we get vaporous textures, at least at first and on a larger scale on songs like The Museum or, even simpler, Space.
Léviathe and Soleil, by KRZ, multi-instrumentalist songwriter, and extracted from EP 22 minutes, have similar elements: an immense sound, vaporous textures, round and soothing guitar, heavy sometimes, or a melancholic and cold piano… on Soleil, the last part growls and there’s a sense of urgency… the urgency of exploring more before the explosion. It’s the urgency of ending the loop. It’s true, but mainly because it’s a direct reference to the game. On 22 minutes, each track is inspired by the planets and galaxies of the game.
On top of being a superb EP with a clear reference, 22 minutes is also a record where KRZ’s composition impresses.
THE GAME OF COMPARISON
In my diverse listening sessions, some reminded me of games I already knew. Speedball by Simon Denizart could play in a light fantasy open world, but also in the dark alley of an investigative point-and-click. It could also be in the commercial mastodon Monster Hunter. There’s something that reminds me of compositions of the saga Ace Attorney, by Shu Takumi, with a score signed by Masakazu Sugimori and Naoto Tanaka. Light piano, exploring guitars, fluid orchestrations, it’s sublime and intriguing.
I stay with Shu Takumi and Masakazu Sugimori. But I turn towards Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and its fantastic thriller universe, more enigmatic and also very… groovy. There, it’s another artist and another genre that invokes this specific atmosphere: Alex Grenier. His efficient jazz and his speaking guitars have a lot of texture, form, and flamboyant flare on his new album Octopazz. The track of the same name is very representative of that incredible groove. Superbly technique, it really matches with Sugimori’s work.
With influences from 70s rock and Peruvian Chicha, Estrella Tropical by Chicharron would synchronize well with a nervous platform game with a setting from large deserted valleys to a futuristic neon aesthetic, with a very Crash Bandicoot air. Infinitely colourful and with a perfect progression, I can listen to it for hours on a hard level to clear.
THE VOICES OF CONTEXT
In tracks that are not only instrumentals, the French band Gami with Great Sorrow proposes precise piano and tender vocals. The arrangements and atmosphere of the song remind me of Gris – a superb platform game about grief with a couple of puzzles. Of course, it’s more than the theme that grabs my focus. It’s the intelligence of the orchestral strings integration and the progression of Great Sorrow that brings the track into such a context so easily for me.
Similarly, the atmospheric and elegant work of Cleo T., and mainly on Wherever You Are which seems perfect to synchronize on a dramatic scene, at the top of over 60 hours of gaming. Here, the vocals of Cleo T. and its atmosphere between musical classicism and futurism bring Assassin’s Creed to my mind, particularly the intense Ezio’s Family, composed by Jesper Kydd. If all its versions are sublime, here it’s the original one that I think plays with the same epic balance.
A LONG LIST
I’d easily have Somebody Else by Tom Odell on a contemplative and emotionally difficult moment on Road 96. Maud could bring to life a new version of Mass Effect with her supple electro on Eternal. Tangomotán, with the superb Camelia, could be found in Professor Layton and The Crypt of the Necrodancer alike. For fans of Call of Duty or PUBG, why not give a try to Figurehead and their song The Comet? For those who prefer modern Japanese Role Play Games, like Sea of Stars, I’d advise you to turn to Vertigo Season by A Sudden Burst of Colour.
The epic side of BYE BYE by BRJTHEREAL would fit an excellent Forza. Quieter, and even with its change of atmosphere, À L’AUBE by DAÏDA could infiltrate a compilation of the Minecraft score. As for Butterfly Phase by Kelly Moran, it feels for rest, quiet, and devotion – it reminds me of Stardew Valley. So yeah, the list is long and genre-less.
LISTENING
All of these incredible artists are not, yet, and as far as I’m aware, in any game soundtrack. But with so much diversity, in games and music, the possibilities and combos are infinite. I am glad to present their tracks in a double playlist. Music Bits for all these artists, and Bits of Games for the mentioned games.
With hours in the good company of music, feelings are stretching. Getting attached to a character will make each track a Proust’s Madeleine. And sometimes amplifying everything, more than just music, film or book, already efficient. With all this, I’m out to Outer Wilds.
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