A Supergiant Games song had to appear on here eventually. Depending on how long this series goes on for, it almost certainly won’t be the last.
The Spine is the song that accompanies Transistor’s first miniboss – but far more importantly than that, it does wonders to establish the main character, Red, and the world that the characters inhabit. The track starts playing just as you find out Red’s profession as a singer-songwriter, and furthermore that she has lost her voice due to the starting events of the story. There’s a slew of metaphors and implications left open to interpretation here, as one can imagine. The song itself is incredibly well-produced and written, but it’s the way it’s interwoven with the gameplay, the protagonist’s motivations and circumstances, and the overall theme and vibe of the game’s setting, that makes it one of the most memorable moments in gaming for me.
Darren Korb is both an incredible artist and, honestly, some kind of prodigy. He plays several instruments on top of being an amazing electronic producer, can sing and perform live, and even voice-acts very well in the later Supergiant games. And the way Ashley Barrett synergizes her voice with his compositions needs no elaboration. I don’t know how they create the things they do, but I hope they can continue doing it for a long time to come.
Considering what I’ve described, I could recommend booting up the game for yourself if you don’t want to be spoiled from hearing the song in context. It’s a 6-hour playthrough at a steal of a price on-sale. Either which way, the game has plenty more incredible songs just like this one to offer.
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