Year: 2018
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Lena Raine
Number of tracks: 43

★★★★★

An auditory up and downhill ride

This is the music review of
Farewell (2019).

You probably all know those artsy-fartsy games à la Flower, Journey or Gris, the ones with a simple premise and shallow gameplay where the focus is on the experience. Celeste is not exactly such a game, even if it initially appears to be, both visually and in terms of content. Pixel look? Check. A torn protagonist in search of herself? Check. Partly spherical soundtrack? That's a check. But then there's the platforming action with tough jumping passages, time trials and a mocking death counter. The result is a gaming experience like Super Meat Boy paired with the story of Child of Light, equal parts nerve-wracking and relaxing. A curious mixture that is also reflected in the musical accompaniment.

The soundtrack was created by American composer Lena Raine, also known as Lena Chappelle, who worked on the score for the Guild Wars 2–addon Hearts of Thorns , among others. Her defining tool for the background music in Celeste is the piano, alongside wafting synths, on which individual notes and tone sequences are strummed almost devoutly.

In combination with the shallow beats, this creates an almost meditative atmosphere over long stretches. Although this appropriately underlines the thoughtful narrative of the game, left aside this works less well for me. However, that might also be due to my preference for more brutal action. These almost sedate tracks, such as Postcard from Celeste Mountain, Checking in or Awake , are contrasted by somewhat quirkier and more exciting compositions such as Spirit of Hospitality, Confronting Myself and Reach for the Summit , which are played during the more demanding platform passages. There are also a few MIDI versions of individual tracks as well as remixes, but these are more likely to be of interest to enthusiasts.

In addition to the beautiful main theme (Madeline and Theo), which unfortunately never reaches its full potential, the fantastic Scattered and Lost should definitely be mentioned, which manages a nice balancing act between menacing, calming and then upbeat again. Of course, my sympathy may also stem from the fact that I was stuck at this point in the game for the longest time by far. But that's the way it is with soundtracks, as I never tire of telling you: With few exceptions, most of the enthusiasm for them is fed by the experience in the game, movie or series. They can work independently of their origins, but they don't have to. In any case, the Celeste-OST has the potential to delight fans of shallow background music as well as retro nostalgics and experimental techno disciples.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Prologue	Lena Raine	4
02	First Steps	Lena Raine	4
03	Resurrections	Lena Raine	4
04	Awake	Lena Raine	3
05	Postcard from Celeste Mountain	Lena Raine	2
06	Checking in	Lena Raine	4
07	Spirit of Hospitality	Lena Raine	4
08	Scattered and Lost	Lena Raine	5
09	Golden	Lena Raine	4
10	Anxiety	Lena Raine	4
11	Quiet and Falling	Lena Raine	4
12	In the Mirror	Lena Raine	4
13	Madeline and Theo	Lena Raine	4
14	Starjump	Lena Raine	4
15	Reflection	Lena Raine	4
16	Confronting Myself	Lena Raine	4
17	Little Goth	Lena Raine	4
18	Reach for the Summit	Lena Raine	4
19	Exhale	Lena Raine	4
20	Heart of the Mountain	Lena Raine	4
21	My Dearest Friends	Lena Raine	4
22	Forsaken City [Sever the Skyline Mix]	Maxo	4
23	Old Site [Black Moonrise Mix]	Ben Prunty	4
24	Celestial Resort [Good Karma Mix]	Christa Lee	4
25	Golden Ridge [Golden Feather Mix]	In Love With a Ghost	4
26	Mirror Temple [Mirror Magic Mix]	2 Mello	4
27	Reflection [Center of the Earth Mix]	Jukio Kallio	4
28	Summit [No More Running Mix]	Kuraine	4
29	The Core [Say Goodbye Mix]	Matthewせいじ	4
30	Area 1 Demo [Bonus]	Lena Raine	4
31	Prologue [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
32	First Steps [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
33	Resurrections [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
34	Awake [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
35	Scattered and Lost [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
36	Quiet and Falling [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
37	In the Mirror [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
38	Madeline and Theo [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
39	Confronting Myself [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
40	Little Goth [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
41	Reach for the Summit [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4
42	Exhale [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes; Michaela Nachtigall	4
43	My Dearest Friends [Piano Version]	Trevor Alan Gomes	4

Year: 2019
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Lena Raine
Number of tracks: 13

★★★★★

Farewell

I'll be brief at this point: While the Farewell has a significantly increased level of difficulty that extends the playing time according to your level of frustration and skill, the OST is much shorter with 13 tracks, three of which don't even break the one-minute mark. You could say it's more of the same, but despite the addition of strings, the music is somehow too flat compared to the main game; it's less catchy or exciting. So it's really only for fans. And anyone who has always wanted an elevator version of the main theme will finally have their absurd fetish satisfied with wavedash.ppt .

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	The Empty Space Above	Lena Raine	3
02	Fear of the Unknown	Lena Raine	2
03	Joy of Remembrance	Lena Raine	4
04	In Stasis	Lena Raine	2
05	Crash	Lena Raine	1
06	Beyond the Heart	Lena Raine	4
07	Final Defiance	Lena Raine	2
08	Futility	Lena Raine	2
09	Reconciliation	Lena Raine	3
10	Farewell	Lena Raine	4
11	The Woman and the Bird	Lena Raine	3
12	Vovô e Vovó	Lena Raine	3
13	wavedash.ppt	Lena Raine	2