If you're rebounding off a day of Thanksgiving turkey (or just a regular Thursday, for those outside the US) and are looking for something to relax and unwind to, the singer behind Xenoblade Chronicles' ending theme, Sarah Àlainn, has you covered.
Over the course of this week, the musician has dropped a trio of new tracks inspired by the worlds of gaming and anime, all of which are now available on a host of streaming services including YouTube Music, Spotify and Amazon Music — and we've linked them in throughout this article, because we're kind like that
The first track, released on 27th November, is Àlainn's version of the Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes theme, 'Flags of Brave'. The track features the singer overdubbing a 16-part choir, with Kingdom Hearts pianist Benyamin Nuss on the keys.
Up next, there's Àlainn's cover of 'For Us to Decide (Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete)' from the Gundam anime series. This one was initially composed by Neil Sedaka, though the new take reimagines it as a jazz ballad. Nice.
And finally, the big hitter for us Nintendo fans, the singer has released a new rendition of EarthBound's 'Eight Melodies' in celebration of the game's 35th anniversary. This one also features overdubbed vocals and some synths peppered into the sound mix to capture some of the classic 8-bit magic.
All of the above were recorded, mixed and mastered in Dolby Atmos, which Àlainn described as "the closest to a live performance I have ever experienced yet entirely different at the same time". Hey, if you're going to listen to the tunes (and you have the relevant sound system), you may as well make the most.
And if it's even more chilled game music that you're after today, we've got you covered. This week, Nintendo Music landed a new batch of tracks from Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? and we recently covered a new Zelda jazz album from The Deku Trio. Plenty of options for some weekend listening, no?
What do you make of these new tracks? Let us know in the comments.
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Comments 5
Nice, will definitely give these tracks a listen later!
I like the Flying Doll song!
That Eight Melodies is over produced. The song is not supposed to be that busy
She has a great voice. I wish she was a little more picky about lyrics though. While Beyond the Sky is absolutely beautiful musically, the words definitely could have used a once-over by a native english speaker. I try very hard not to listen too closely whenever it comes up on a playlist so I can keep enjoying it.
I hate to be pedantic, but Eight Melodies here is from Mother 1 or Earthbound Beginnings, and is based on the arrangement from the Mother 1 vocal tracks album. I have a copy; it's one of my favorite video game music recordings ever, and Eight Melodies should be in my Christmas playlist this year, now that I think about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmZMMSDx3Yg
It's over-compressed and really hard on my ears. I can hear what it's trying to be, but it just doesn't let itself fade into or be quiet, instead brickwalling everything. With a new age sound like this, that is a really bad idea. Soft knee compressors would've been a better choice here, and used sparingly.
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