![]() ![]() At the same time though, many of the songs in Disco Elysium are based on existing British Sea Power songs or reuse melodies and passages from their discography. Like most video game scores, many of the songs have no vocals and are designed to enhance the atmosphere of the game instead of standing on their own. ![]() Although it's not common for video games soundtracks to revolve around a band, British Sea Power's ability to craft a diverse palette of sounds made them the perfect match for the ambience of Disco Elysium.Īlthough Disco Elysium's soundtrack was composed by British Sea Power, it's almost impossible to tell from playing the game. Their versatility with completely different sounds on their albums led to Robert Kurvitz seeking them out for the Disco Elysium soundtrack. Favoring the experimentation of post-rock riffs, British Sea Power became known for their moody atmospheres and art-rock inspired passages. Robert Kurvitz, lead designer and writer of ZA/UM, sought out British Sea Power during a tour and asked them to score the soundtrack for Disco Elysium.īefore working on Disco Elysium, British Sea Power had made a name for themselves in the UK indie rock scene with their unique sound reminiscent of bands like The Cure and Joy Division. While bands or artists can appear in a game's soundtrack, they don't usually play a role in the original score. It's rare for a video game soundtrack to revolve around the sounds and ideas of a band but this is exactly the direction that Disco Elysium takes. There’s ambience, more guitar oriented tracks, beautiful samples, and more but it’s all about that pastel colored, dogged, resistance to and acceptance of defeat which makes Disco Elysium so, so, so great.These days, it's common for video games soundtracks to be created by a composer or sound designer in a similar fashion to movie scores. As the soundtrack continues it alights on these concepts and then takes off again, approaching this contrast from many angles. And then, finally, your own fall, your own lost potential, your own dreams which you cling to with a hope that’s all the more powerful for being, essentially, hopeless. First, the fallen world, the fallen social experiment but then, second, the character’s fall, the loss of a man’s potential. But if you contrast it with “Instrument of Surrender”, a contrast almost forced on you by the return of the horns, then you start to feel that sadness which undercuts all of Disco Elysium.Įven when you’re “whirling in rags”, even in a place dedicated to merriment and celebration, there is the sense of the fallen. The guitars and the playful vocals which interject every now and again do a great job of setting that playful tone, giving the track its uplifting sheen. It is an inherently happier tune, its main line much more upbeat and rhythm oriented. ![]() “Whirling-In-Rags, 8 AM”, drawing its name from the bar/inn/discotech in which much of the game is set, contains even more of that lost hope. It seems as if the entire track unfurls from that sound and slowly builds towards the horn climax near the four minute mark, betraying the first tell-tale sound of that contrast we mentioned above, the beauty of the lost hope of Revachol. The track builds on this sound as its core element, creating melodies on top of it, modifying it in hauntingly beautiful ways. That sound recurs throughout the game, mostly when you’re wandering around the city it is set in, echoing the dejected and lost beauty of the place. The first opens with one of the most achingly beautiful and sad horn sounds I’ve heard. To get a sense of this contrast, all you need to do is listen to the first two tracks of the soundtrack, “Instrument of Surrender” and “Whirling-In-Rags, 8 AM”. This soundtrack does a phenomenal job of amplifying and fleshing out the messages and themes of the game, touching upon its inherent melancholy but also the hope and joy that are scattered, in contrast through it. But it is also generated by the incredible soundtrack, created (in most part) by British Sea Power. This atmosphere is created by a fearless dedication to the world in which the game is set, to its politics, to its realities, and to the people which inhabit it. It’s one of my all time favorite games for its writing, its mechanics, and its flawless, mournful, gut-wrenching atmosphere. ![]() There are many reasons for which I love Disco Elysium. ![]()
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