Before listening to the album, Lukas Kunce at Amanita Design sent me a link to a documentary put together by the man behind the Hidden Orchestra – Joe Acheson – that turned out to be not just an invaluable resource for understanding the creation of the music for the Creaks soundtrack but is also just plain awesome in terms of being a really relaxing and incredibly interesting documentary, full stop - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67S-rAyku3U I urge you all to watch!
The first thing that struck me about Creaks was the artwork; the hand-drawn aesthetic (courtesy of Radim Jurda) dovetails perfectly with the in-game visuals and look so tasty that I find myself constantly flicking through and noticing tiny, new details each time.
The cover shows the teetering underground mansion in which the game takes place whilst the double-spread inside cover is a beautifully drawn representation of characters and locations visited.
The credits are listed on the inside-right cover and my peepers were very much drawn towards Tomas Dvorak (credited here with clarinet), as he was the man behind the Machinarium soundtrack…which I need to own as soon as possible. Also included are six art cards comprised of some in-game pictures and key locations. I very much plan to get these framed, I’m an absolute sucker for the art style that Amanita Design uses! Joe Acheson plays around twenty instruments on the album, one of which is a tiny harp made from an egg-slicer. Good.
The music itself comes on two 180g vinyl records that are a cool, smoky pale blue colour that reflects the deep caverns illustrated on the cover of the album and the production (mixed and produced by Joe Acheson, mastering by Matous Godik) is warm and organic; giving an acoustic, intimate and live feel.
Below is a track by track look at the gold contained within those sweet, blue grooves.
Side A
Entrance – a brief, ominous fanfare, Eastern vibes show the egg-slicer harp in action.
Attic – the first full song, this really grabbed me upon the first spin with its fast snare & tom rolls and breakbeat drum approach peppered over swooning instrumentation with lilting melodies from Tomas Dvorak’s clarinet throughout. This is a real highlight and such a great piece of music to kick off the album in earnest. The perfect mood setter.
Three Islands – this track starts off in an almost classic jazz style that I assumed was in an unusual time signature; but it’s just the weaving structure of the melodies playing tricks, the first of many tracks that feel energised and keep you on your toes whilst always having an underlying weight beneath the playfulness.
Row – The HAPI drum is the star here, with the gentle chimes beating out calming, hypnotic rhythms over a lightly electronic backbeat supplemented by acoustic drums played with brushes, interspersed with rimshots. This track is the first sign of the evolution of the instruments into modern electronica, I was getting notes of Michael McCann’s Deux Ex Human Revolution. Good.
Bridges – Bringing things back to a sparse, thoughtful sound, this piano-led piece is haunting and again backed by a bubbling electronic beat as well as Poppy Ackroyd’s bursts of the keening violin.
Side B
Welcome to Towers – An airy, mellow track, Welcome to Towers starts off slow and calm but the instrumentation is soon joined by a seemingly panicking, almost dancing drum beat that gives the impression of someone lost in a fog. Again, electronic beats punctuate the track, giving it a timeless, epic feel. Long, rumbling cello notes add to the sense of ominousness, possibly hinting at a change of mood as the album progresses.
Tangle – I believe the instrument that leads this track is a zither, I love how it settles in a groove with the bass clarinet in a way that reminded me of someone sneaking through a house whilst bathed in moonlight. A subtle track that almost feels transitional but such a great mood piece that features those awesomely peppery drums towards the latter half. The drums on Creaks are SAUCY, thank you, Jamie Graham and Tim Lane! Also, kudos for the lovely, descending cello line that ends the track, a brief but tasty treat that harks back to the moments of traditional jazz.
Learning Spy – There’s a tinkling innocence to this one that soon settles into a really cool groove – yes, the drums are awesome – with an expressive bass line snaking through. If the bassline at the end of Learning Spy was a woman, I would have proposed marriage to it – or at least bought it a drink.
Armoured – A solo piano track that echoes something that we’ll hear later in One and One, this comprises of a hypnotic, repeated melodic line that subtly changes each time, a beautiful and gentle end to the first record.
Side C
Releasing Small Wheel – Starting off with gentle woodwind and a pulsing, yet delicate electronic backbeat, Releasing Small Wheel morphs out of this and into a more expressive and beat-driven track as it progresses without ever getting ‘full-on’, a great and subtle energy-lifter after the mellow Armoured.
Hutches– This song is extremely hypnotic and reminds me of a twisted folky doom track (the main riff is reminiscent of a song by a band called Spider Kitten, although, in that instance, it’s down-tuned, growling guitar at half-speed as opposed to a home-made harp made of an egg-slicer being plucked with a train ticket). The egg-slicer harp plays a short, looped riff as the rest of the instrumentation dances around, adding embellishments. It’s a tough thing to keep a track interesting when it is based around a single, short and repetitive motif but Hutches is a great example of how it’s done. It comes across as a groovy jam-track and is also notable as this is where the pulsing electronic break-beat action takes centre stage and makes it seem like a stoned dance track to an alien rhythm.
Learning Goat – a gentle, ethereal plucking is entwined with swirling electronic rhythms and dashes of hand-drummed rolls in this cascading track. As it reaches its climax, it almost calls to mind the sound of digital information rushing over a waterfall. Again, there’s always that focus on melody, it never feels stilted or overly driving.
Side D
Lifting – Following the more modern sensibilities of the last couple of tracks, Lifting changes gears, moving back to echoing piano chords which are soon joined by that aching violin. It gives the impression of someone lost in melancholy thought. As the song moves forwards, bubbling stabs of electronic beats are introduced, giving the track a more inquisitive feel before the violin takes over once more.
Palace End – I really loved the sadness in the opening piano to this one, as with the rest of the album, there’s always progression and movement; with the clarinet joining along with bass, giving the melody weight and a gentle sturdiness. There’s a point where the track threatens to be overtaken by a rising beat, but it mellows out to allow the clarinet to take centre stage with that tickling piano accompaniment, and the bass playing a higher scale, adding delicacy. Finally, the drums join in and the song really opens up, glorious!
One and one – As mentioned in Armoured, this final track is purely cello-based and sees layered tracks playing variations on a rising scale. Rebecca Knight is the cellist here, and it’s a beautiful way to end the album. This track could have been fifteen minutes long and I would have been absolutely fine with it. I’m a sucker for a mellow album coda.
As you can probably tell, Creaks really resonated with me and is very much an album that lives beyond the - also awesome – game that it was created for. Hidden Orchestra has created an album that - much like Chris Christodoulou’s Deadbolt – feels like it covers so much ground and with such passion and expression that it’s hard to not just put it on again after the final cello notes fade out and the goosebumps disappear.
I highly recommend watching the documentary on this as it gives you the perfect pre-amble to not just enjoying the music but also understanding the craft and meaning behind it. I’m very much looking forward to what both Amanita Design and Hidden Orchestra come up with next, it can’t not be amazing.
Developer – Amanita Design (https://amanita-design.net/)
Artist – Hidden Orchestra (http://www.hiddenorchestra.com)
Purchase Link - https://merch.amanita-design.net/products/creaks-soundtrack-2lp-by-hidden-orchestra
No comments:
Post a Comment
Like what you see in the Games Freezer?
Why not tell us what you think with a few well-chosen comments? :)
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.