BUY Video Game LoFi: Kingdom Hearts

Editor’s Note: A review copy of the album was provided to GameGrooves.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Kingdom Hearts has been on a lot of people’s minds (GameGrooves included), and lo-fi artist lost:tree (aka SARE) is no exception. On this album, he’s reimagined 10 iconic tracks from the Kingdom Hearts series with the help of some friends. Video Game LoFi: Kingdom Hearts is a musical ceviche, simple in its design, but masterful in its execution.

As we’ve seen before, lo-fi arrangements can be made for practically any game soundtrack, but when you’re talking about a 10-track album, things get a little more challenging. What lo-fi sacrifices in its complexity, it makes up for in ambience. Nevertheless, how do you keep an album from becoming stale when the tempo and tone stays relatively the same? Lost:tree answers this question masterfully with Video Game LoFi: Kingdom Hearts.

From the start, lost:tree establishes that his strength is not just producing and arranging music, but also finding the right collaborator for the right track with Nila’s innocent yet intriguing voice on “Simple and Clean.” From there, we’re treated to a more traditional  vocal choice with Reven on “Face My Fears.” The three other collaborators on the album (Eleviisa, Tabitha Louise, and Aleyna) all give similarly stellar performances, creating a natural ebb and flow with the balance of vocal and instrumental tracks. In other words, the vocal performances are the lime or lemon of the dish, bringing in zest while highlighting the natural flavors that were already present.

Last but not least, lost:tree remembers that garnishes are just as important to music as they are to culinary dishes. Rolling waves in “Simple and Clean,” a tender flute solo in “Roxas,” and chorus vocals in “Don’t Think Twice” all elevate the individual tracks and the album as a whole. Despite working with a more limited dynamic palette than say mathcore or classical music, lost:tree finds creativity in his stylistic restrictions and effortlessly imbues a strong emotional undertone with every track.

Video Game LoFi: Kingdom Hearts invites the listener to an introspective journey, guided by subdued beats and serene vocals, and I can’t think of a more fitting tribute for one of the most iconic soundtracks in video game history.

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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