?? Mango Mage Records | Interview With Britt ?.
?⚖️ The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles | PS4 | Re.Zelda & Chill is a bit of a gem and Mikel’s tunes have been echoing through our apartment for over a year and show no signs of abating. The breeziness of them makes you just want to flip the record over and start again…which is absolutely fine. The songs also feel the perfect length punchy and on the move as opposed to being epic dirges. There’s also a tasty mix of tracks here with songs from the original NES classic right up to Breath of the Wild, spanning almost thirty years of gold. This is an album of cool riffs on those much-loved Zelda melodies with a cheeky grin as opposed to a po-faced, textbook approach. The ever-present keyboard work also sits perfectly in the mix, whether it be swirling notes, tinkling ethereal runs, or toy-radio-sounding gently distorted chords, it always feels in context and comes across with a sense of playfulness.
These subtle but key changes make the album a cohesive whole that never loses track of the slightly dreamy, ‘hanging out’ vibe. For instance, there may be some 90’s-styled snappy snare in Dark World or bouncy bass and handclaps on Fairy Fountain but later on, there’ll be slow, jazz-style brushwork to give a smokier aura in a song or two. So many different samples and effects are used that, whilst each track has a similar mood, the drums, bass and keyboard/synth parts are always evolving and adding texture. The ever-present low-end bass beat anchors each track as melodies roll over the top. it also makes the record flexible you can just throw it on and relax in various situations without it seeming overbearing or aggressive. I’m a somewhat casual Zelda fan in that I’ve played a handful of the games over the decades but don’t hold them on a pedestal as some do, so I approached this album with very much a focus on the music itself as opposed to using it as a way of getting lost in personal nostalgia for the games, it’s all about the tunes baby, and it delivers (Ocarina of) time and time again.Įach song is warmly produced and never ramps up in gear or gets too melancholy or maudlin, giving off a consistently laid-back vibe that’s hard to resist.