Hello all! Welcome back to Play It By Ear, a weekly column where every Friday I discuss my thoughts on a different video game’s soundtrack.
You can see the list of upcoming games and their corresponding playlists here. I will try to focus on lesser-known games or games whose soundtracks I feel can be a bit overlooked, but some of the bigger games may sneak their way in.
Today’s Game: Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Release Date: June 10, 2021
Platform: Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Developer(s): Wishes Unlimited
Composer: Lena Raine
Other Works by Same Composers: Dead State OST (2014), Celeste OST (2018), ESC OST* (2018), Steven Universe: The Movie soundtrack (along with many, many others) (2019), Minecraft (2020 – 2022), Deltarune Chapter 2 OST (with Toby Fox) (2021), Moonglow Bay OST (2021)
*Also served as writer, designer, and programmer.
Availability: YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Amazon Music
Number of Songs: 60
Approximate Total Time: 2 hours 36 minutes
Played the Game? No.
What Kind of Game Is This? Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a top-down adventure game that takes place in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals. When all color drains from the world, turning everything black-and-white, janitor Pizza must set things right. The game’s mechanics center around a magical Brush that can be used to return color to the world and solve puzzles. Boss fights (generally in a bullet-hell style) are the only form of combat in the game and can actually be skipped in their entirety.
Top Songs or Songs of Note (in Track Order):
Blank Canvas
Such a simple piano melody, but one that carries a surprising amount of wistful feeling. The footsteps and creaking boards in the background add an interesting touch.
Supper Woods
The combination of the more intense strings with the more relaxing and melodic flute make this track an instant classic.
Eyes in the Darkness
One of the more Celeste-sounding songs in this OST, the synths and piano give this one both an ominous and emboldening feel.
Wielder Temple
I just love the way this one builds over the course of its runtime, continually adding more and more elements without overwhelming the string-and-flute base.
Probably Ancient Evil
Another very Celeste-sounding song, I really like the growly, almost barely-restrained quality to some of the synths.
Gulp Swamp
This song is pretty much pure vibes, and I love it for that.
Uoy Ma I
The way this track takes one of the game’s most prominent, relaxing melodies and transforms it into something dark, foreboding, and dramatic is just great.
Abandon Me
This was the first track that I ever heard from this OST, and it remains my favorite. The distorted voices, the synth bass, and the at-times sparse melody serve to give this such a haunting atmosphere.
Monster
This one is very interesting, because it seems to consist of two overlapping melodies – a fast-paced, very tense synth theme (reminiscent of the intro to the Cosmic Clones theme from Super Mario Galaxy 2) and a slower, more methodical flute theme. It really gives this track a lot of depth.
History Against Us
The organ, the strings, and the electric guitar together make this track feel so epic and triumphant.
This Colorful World
Such a beautiful and simple track to close out the OST.
Honorable Mentions: The Town of Luncheon, Potluck, Elevenses, Erase You, Dinners the Big City, Teatime Meadows, Dessert Mountain, Song of the Wielders, Turnabout Squeeze, Brekkie, Something New, Once More into the Dark, Do the Impossible, The Mountain Top, A Fresh Start
Overall Thoughts: Prior to stumbling across this soundtrack earlier this year, I mainly knew Lena Raine for composing the OST for Celeste (one of my absolute favorite game soundtracks and the source of four of the top eight, three of the top four, and both of the top two songs in Katie’s recent Best Video Game Song 2017 – 2020 Tournament). That soundtrack relied heavily on synth and piano, to great effect, but I had wondered how readily Raine’s style would translate to other types of music or instruments. Chicory: A Colorful Tale answers that question easily. The added use of strings and flute grant the game a much different and (much of the time) more soothing atmosphere than that of Celeste, and yet the sound remains unmistakably Lena Raine. There is such variety on display here, from the laid-back ‘Elevenses’ to the jaunty ‘Supper Woods’ to the dramatic and epic ‘History Against Us’ and ‘Do the Impossible’, and yet it still feels cohesive. The main recurring melodies are top-notch as well. If I had one criticism, it would be that the OST doesn’t manage to be quite as tight as the soundtrack to Celeste. There are times, particularly in the stretch from ‘Simmer Springs’ to ‘The Dark Forest’, where some of the songs kind of blend together or don’t quite manage to stand out. That is ultimately more of a factor of the soundtrack’s two-and-a-half hour length, though, which is outside of Raine’s hands and doesn’t do much to reduce my enjoyment. This OST has definitely made the jump into my favorites.
Bonus Prompts:
- Do you agree or disagree with my assessment of the soundtrack?
- Are there any tracks, that I mentioned or didn’t mention, that you would like to further discuss?
- What game soundtracks have you been listening to recently? What’s been grabbing your attention?
- Are there any game soundtracks that you would like me to cover in the future?
And there we have it! Thanks so much for reading and listening to this soundtrack with me.
Last Week: Glover
Next Week: Klonoa: Door to Phantomile