In this weekly feature, I recommend game soundtracks. I share a few of my favorite tracks, talk about why everyone should listen to the soundtrack, and a little bit about the composer. This week's choice is Child of Light by Ubisoft Montreal.
THE STATS
Name: Child of LightDeveloper: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: April 30, 2014
Genres: Platformer, role-playing
Composer(s): Cœur de pirate (Béatrice Martin)
MY FAVORITE TRACKS
(The titles link to YouTube videos... and I highly recommend some good headphones to best enjoy all of the subtle elements of the music!)
Pilgrims on a Long Journey
This song, like the other 17 tracks of the album, is both sad yet optimistic in sound. It's so beautiful that it was even used in the first part of a pairs' free dance piece in figure skating. Fittingly, the pair was from Canada and this soundtrack was composed by a Canadian artist.
Aurora's Theme
This is the song everyone thinks of when the game is mentioned. Not only is it the theme for the main character, Aurora, but it is the song most-used in trailers and promotional videos for the game. Coming directly after the Pilgrims track, this piece opens up the musical narrative in a spectacular way. We are given the sense of adventure and hope.
Dark Creatures
This is the first battle music players encounter in the game, and it aptly sets the tone of an intense meeting and the epic fight held by a little girl and her allies against dangerous and dark creatures.
Leave Your Castle
This. Is. My. Favorite. Track.
Writers everywhere are scolding me for that broken sentence, but I truly feel the emphasis was needed. Maybe it's the flute. Maybe it's the moving piano. Maybe it's the subtle guitar in the background, or the strings that broaden the sound a third of the way in. I'm not entirely sure why it's my favorite. It feels like I'm a kid again, riding my bike recklessly down the streets of my hometown, wind in my face, and I'm having the best day of my life.
Metal Gleamed in the Twilight
There is no mistaking that this is another battle piece. The intensity has increased with some percussion and rather anxious strings. I love how it expands at :54 and keeps building... and then at 1:30 it changes rhythm entirely with some added brass. The theme at that point sounds like some kind of pirate theme, and that tickles me because of the composer's stage name -- Pirate's Heart. For an even more intense ride through this piece that almost makes you think of the Souls games, try the version with full choir support.
Woods Darker than Night
This one reminds me of a quasi-waltz (though it's not written in the right time measure for that). This piece accompanies one of the early parts of the game where you are wandering through woods and very uncertain about where you are -- or what may be in the woods around you. So there is a level of elegance but a great measure of uncertainty that is portrayed through the music.
Off to Sleep
"And I'll be waiting for the light/ That guides us through the worst of nights..."
This is my second-favorite track, mostly because of the lyrics, but also because of the guitar -- it reminds me of a lot of 90's songs I adored (and still adore).
This song, like the other 17 tracks of the album, is both sad yet optimistic in sound. It's so beautiful that it was even used in the first part of a pairs' free dance piece in figure skating. Fittingly, the pair was from Canada and this soundtrack was composed by a Canadian artist.
Aurora's Theme
This is the song everyone thinks of when the game is mentioned. Not only is it the theme for the main character, Aurora, but it is the song most-used in trailers and promotional videos for the game. Coming directly after the Pilgrims track, this piece opens up the musical narrative in a spectacular way. We are given the sense of adventure and hope.
Dark Creatures
This is the first battle music players encounter in the game, and it aptly sets the tone of an intense meeting and the epic fight held by a little girl and her allies against dangerous and dark creatures.
Leave Your Castle
This. Is. My. Favorite. Track.
Writers everywhere are scolding me for that broken sentence, but I truly feel the emphasis was needed. Maybe it's the flute. Maybe it's the moving piano. Maybe it's the subtle guitar in the background, or the strings that broaden the sound a third of the way in. I'm not entirely sure why it's my favorite. It feels like I'm a kid again, riding my bike recklessly down the streets of my hometown, wind in my face, and I'm having the best day of my life.
Metal Gleamed in the Twilight
There is no mistaking that this is another battle piece. The intensity has increased with some percussion and rather anxious strings. I love how it expands at :54 and keeps building... and then at 1:30 it changes rhythm entirely with some added brass. The theme at that point sounds like some kind of pirate theme, and that tickles me because of the composer's stage name -- Pirate's Heart. For an even more intense ride through this piece that almost makes you think of the Souls games, try the version with full choir support.
Woods Darker than Night
This one reminds me of a quasi-waltz (though it's not written in the right time measure for that). This piece accompanies one of the early parts of the game where you are wandering through woods and very uncertain about where you are -- or what may be in the woods around you. So there is a level of elegance but a great measure of uncertainty that is portrayed through the music.
Off to Sleep
"And I'll be waiting for the light/ That guides us through the worst of nights..."
This is my second-favorite track, mostly because of the lyrics, but also because of the guitar -- it reminds me of a lot of 90's songs I adored (and still adore).
WHY I RECOMMEND IT
As far as game soundtracks go, this one is easily one of the greats. Honestly, if you listen to this soundtrack it really speaks for itself -- though only one track has lyrics. The rest is a beautiful journey through emotion-laden musical themes.
THE COMPOSER: BÉATRICE MARTIN
Better known by her stage name, Cœur de pirate (French: Pirate's Heart), she is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Montreal, Canada. I honestly don't know much else about her. She's certainly an active singer-songwriter and pianist, but she largely sings in French and is praised for it. (The Quebec province in Canada is like that -- I grew up just south of it in Vermont.) I think if I understood and liked the sound of the French language then I would probably listen to more of her work. I may still explore it based solely on the instrumental composition of this soundtrack!
I know that you've seen the worst
Your heart's been torn before
Those creatures won't let you go
So hang onto what you know
So sail on you golden girl
And fight against those fears
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