New music by Chvrches.

Maverick

I thought I would start a topic on the new theme song for the game. You can give your opinions on if you like it or not. Here is the video in case anyone has missed it. youtube.com/watch?v=lhB_ieuJaSs

KittyValkyrie

The new theme song is nice, but doesn't do the game quite as much justice as Still Alive did. Both have airy melodies that do well to capture the feeling of being high over a bustling city, however they have some pretty glaring differences.

I think the most important difference is the use of percussion. Both have important parts for their percussion line, but Lisa Miskovsky makes use of much more syncopation than CHVRCHES. Warning Call's percussion stays very close to the beat and doesn't do much to keep the listener attentive. One of the bigger factors causing this is the very loud and obnoxious bass drum that basically acts as a metronome through most of the song, making the song sound heavy.

Instrumental choices in Warning Call are definitely much more electronic. Still Alive featured piano guitar complemented by violin counter melody. Both line ups work very well and sound nice to listen to. However, Still Alive's use of theirs was also significantly more conservative than Warning Call's electronic melodies. Both have repetitive chorus parts, but CHVURCHES' melodies just keep rolling on, especially in the biggest swells.

I feel Mirror Edge's theme song needs to nail the serene environment of the rooftops. Both do well to convey the impression IMO, but Warning Call kind of comes off as rather drab with how repetitive it is.

Mildocjr

Still Alive was a better theme song, Lisa did a great job of conveying the struggles of faith through her voice, how the verse starts kind of pleading and builds into sounding strong. The wail of the guitar brings this even further to light by signifying that it has been going on for a long time. The bells make you think this is the time of action for restructuring what is broken. The airy aspects of the song reflect the openness of the city, the view of the sky, chilling with the birds so to speak.

The new song, just seems to focus on the openness of the city, it doesn't have any specific charm to it, it seems more like a placeholder for something better, almost like "We needed a theme song, this will have to do." This is no disrespect to CHVRCHES as the song is good, just not a good reflection on the game. It also sounds dated for the era, it seems to reflect 1980 not the timeline in which Faith exists. This wasn't so much of a problem with ME1 as the song felt timeless.

It also doesn't fit in well with the opening title sequence (after you completed the tutorial part). If properly mixed, Still Alive could be mixed from the opening title sequences (Main Menu theme) of ME1 and sound like it fit's right in, with ME:C retaining a lot of the same genres of music for fight sequences and puzzles Warning Call seems like a light switch difference. It would probably help if CHVRCHES had more dynamic range in the music. (Loudness war) The chiptunes really detract from the vocals where as Still Alive's guitars harmonized with and highlighted the vocals. Perhaps if the synth was turned down to the midpoint between where it's at now and 0 db and used more sparingly (once every 4 - 8 measures) it could fit better with the rest of the music. This would also reduce the repetitiveness of the song.

I'm also an older gamer, 25+, so it might be a generation difference.

Maverick

So far I agree with everyone, it's a good song just isn't as good as Still Alive. I agree as well as hoping for something that sounded more ... I'm not sure how to describe it. I guess like KittyValkyrie said, airy melodies is the best to describe it.

HaraldHoerwick

I like that the sound of the new song (Warning Call) feels more modern, with more electronic sounds in the song than there were in Still Alive, which had predominantly piano sounds. It fits the futuristic feel of the game more. And CHVRCHES is a great artist. What I don't like is that Warning Call has this very bright and sunny vibe that feels like it lacks intensity. I could see it being used in scenes where the characters are just having fun, or as a "they lived happily ever after" type of song at the end of the game. What I can't see is it being used to get your energy flowing during an intense run or for any serious cutscene. Overall, I like Warning Call about as much as Still Alive, but I feel like Warning Call is a bit less versatile or something - I don't know. The real solution is to have CHVRCHES do multiple vocal tracks for the game

Maverick

That's a good way to describe it, it does lack an intensity. It would be interesting if they did have them do another track or two.

FaithConnors

The thing about Warning Call is that it fits more a scene at the end of the game, and the music doesn't compel you to run as much as the music from Still Alive. Will be interested to hear the instrumental of Warning Call. It just doesn't carry a musical melody the way Still Alive did, despite having chords from the trailer music (they are hidden though and not as forward as the piano in Still Alive)



I was thinking it would sound a little more like this, but in a song form

Maverick

Yeah I love the music in this clip!

Teto

Still Alive is one of the very few songs that I can listen every day without be bored. Or twice a day maybe.

And I love the new song. I don't know how long, but for the moment : thumbs up !

Cole

At first I wasn't feeling the new theme song by Chvrches but honestly it grew on me pretty quick. I think I was more in shock that it was a much different feel then the last them song.