Transient Thoughts 004 - Yann Latour - Encodya Origonal Sound Track

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 Encodya Official Soundtrack музыка из игры

Transient Thoughts is a series of shorter reviews that capture my thoughts on a given album at a given time.  Most of these reviews have not had nearly as in depth of a look at my full reviews.  These thoughts are often formulated while walking through my neighborhood, and reflect how the album impacted me in those moments.  I hope you enjoy them.

It's truly fascinating what happens when someone stumbles upon a genre they know nothing about.  When Yann Latour created the soundtrack to Encodya, he did not know what dreampunk was.  Even so he created a worthwhile entry into the genre.

Encodya embraces both the visual and audio stylings of dreampunk.  The cover looks like it could have come from any of the major artists in the scene, and the music is undoubtedly influenced greatly by Blade Runner.  Without knowing that this was a game soundtrack beforehand I would have put this squarely into the dreampunk/ambient genre without a second thought.

The album embraces the ambient side of dreampunk, with passages relying heavily on synth pads and subtle melodies to create a distinctly urban, yet somehow surreal atmosphere.  Where Encodya takes a turn from the norm is the heavy reliance on acoustic instrumentation.

Is that a saxophone on Chalky Sunlight? Why yes it is.  Les Arbres Mecaniques has an emotive violin solo to drive the music forward.  A flute is used in several of the compositions as well.  It is this balance of acoustic instrumentation with the ambience that differentiates the soundtrack from its dreampunk contemporaries.  

The soundtrack to Encodya is a brief but wonderful journey. It never overextends itself and never overstays its welcome.  While games often are only appreciated in the context when the game is played, the truly excellent ones are able to be played on their own as albums without knowledge of the game.  Encodya solidly fits into the second category.

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If interested the record of the album has been self financed by Yann, it is available for purchase here:

https://www.yannlatour.com/product-page/encodya-videogame-original-soundtrack

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