“This series and the music always had a special place in my heart ever since I was a kid and it still means a lot to me now, so picking only 10 tracks to remix was really difficult for me. This album is like a love letter to the game and I hope I was able to do the music justice with these remixes.”
It’s always a nice touch when an artist is a real fan of the media they’re working with, and that’s evident throughout this album. The record itself comes in a red-tinged holographic jacket with a white paper sleeve and is pressed on beautiful red marbled vinyl. The shininess of the packaging means it’s hard to read the small print on the tracklist, so I apologise in advance if I spell any names incorrectly.
Another way in which this pulls away from the LoFi series is its use of guest vocalists, who crop up in multiple places. We even get flautist Tabitha Louise on side B’s Roxas, bringing the atmosphere alongside muted slow breakbeats and a dubby 90s-influenced bassline.
SIDE A
Flipping back to side A, the series theme Simple and Clean begins the album, with wistful dream-pop vocals from Nila.
Dearly Beloved, produced with Besso0, drips with vapor-ish flavour and is a perfect accompaniment to the grey, showery weather at this time of year.
Face My Fears (feat. REVEN) is another vocal number, faster and, if not propelling you onto the dancefloor, at least has you looking at it.
Hollow Bastion and Traverse Town round off the side, the former a lost:tree solo production featuring great keyboard work with a rhythm I cannot get my head around, and the latter, again with Besso0, having that quintessential ‘town you visit between quests’ vibe that I can’t describe any more precisely than that. Give it a listen and you’ll see what I mean.
SIDE B
Side B begins with the jaunty Sora, the theme of the regular Kingdom Hearts protagonist, sharing dancefloor characteristics with Face My Fears.
Up next is Passion, featuring vocalist Eleviisa and Save Point, which, if it isn’t one of the main songs in the Kingdom Hearts anime, then definitely should be.
Roxas, next, gives way to The Silent Forest, featuring sampled woodwind over muted keys.
The album ender is Don’t Think Twice, from KH3, featuring vocalist Aleyna who is really going for it, although I can’t help but think that this one would have been better as an instrumental.
SUMMARY
As I said above, this is a departure from other albums in the series through its use of live vocalists, meaning that it’s got a bit more depth overall. This is a good album in its own right and merits a listen, particularly if you’re on the dream pop-vaporwave train.
I’ve never been a Kingdom Hearts fan, but if you are, that’s going to add a whole other level to your enjoyment, so you’ll want to get involved.
The album is available on vinyl through Curaga Records, and on streaming services and can be bought via Bandcamp too.
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