Life Is Strange writer and director Jonathan Zimmerman has spoken about the “miracle” of getting IDLES’ collab with LCD Soundsystem on the upcoming Reunion soundtrack.
Life Is Strange: Reunion is out later this week (March 26) and will conclude the story of Max and Chloe, who were first introduced in the original 2015 game. The soundtrack includes brand new tracks from Holly Humberstone, Tessa Rose Jackson and Etta Marcus alongside old favourites such as Foals’ ‘Spanish Sahara’.
The Life Is Strange: Reunion soundtrack features plenty of the indie rock anthems that the franchise is known for, such as Girl In Red’s ‘I’ll Die Anyway’, Daughter’s ‘Isolation’ and Lantern’s On The Lakes’ ‘A Fitting End’. However it also includes IDLES & LCD Soundsystem’s ravey collab ‘Dancer’, which can be heard during a scene that sees Max sneaking into the shady, secret society Abraxas party.
“There are so many special songs in the Life Is Strange: Reunion soundtrack,” wrote Deck Nine’s narrative director Jonathan Zimmerman in a new blog post. “But the one that I am still blown away [and] just cannot believe that it’s really in the game [is] ‘Dancer’.”
He first heard the track via a streaming algorithm while he was “pacing the floor” and thinking about a key scene in Reunion. “By the time the song ended, I could actually visualise the whole sequence that would anchor the scene [and] tie all the disparate pieces together. I had it.” Without ‘Dancer’, Zimmerman believes the scene would have been scrapped entirely. “Sometimes a song communicates an idea far better than words or even the script could.”
“Music is never far from mind when writing and developing a Life is Strange game. It’s one of the great joys of the process,” he continued. Alex singing ‘Creep’ in True Colors. ‘Black Flies’ at the end of Farewell. The original PissHead song in Before the Storm. An incredible soundtrack of memories to almost 10 years with the franchise. I won’t rank them, or even say that [‘Dancer’] will stand out from the other tracks in Reunion, of which there are so many special ones, new and old. But for me, it will always feel like a miracle.”
Speaking to NME about the Reunion soundtrack, Music Supervisor Ben Sumner said: “It’s partly about looking back, but there’s also an optimism about reuniting with someone that you really cared about – and all the emotional complexities that come with that.”
In other news, a new description of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie seemingly confirms that the sequel will answer a 19-year-old Nintendo mystery – are Princess Peach and Rosalina related?
