First ears-on with the Yooka-Laylee soundtrack

If you’re a fan of Rare’s Bear & Bird duo then odds are you’ve been following the creation of Yooka-Laylee, the  Mighty Number 9 / Bloodstained-style spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie. Numerous ex-Rare folks are on board, including Banjo’s original voice, level designers from the N64 days and several others who date back to the DKC days. But perhaps most relevant to VGMpire is the fact composer Grant Kirkhope is returning as well, and IGN has a quick sampling of some of the game’s tunes!

I’m immediately reminded of Banjo’s opening area, and the game’s overall pleasant demeanor. It’s quite easy to imagine this music playing over a more traditional “Banjo Three-ie,” which really speaks to how well Kirkhope can nail that feeling all over again.

He also shared these thoughts with IGN / fellow ex-Futurian Ryan MccAffrey:

“I think any composer worth their salt can get a pretty good idea in their head before they even start writing music when they get a description of the thing they’re writing for. For example if someone says it’s a frozen ice mountain I’d be thinking about pizzicato strings, celeste and glockenspiel before I’d even written a note. Or if it was a lush green forest I’d be thinking about using nice warm winds like bassoons and clarinets. Writing music is all about using your imagination, the images tell the story but it’s the music that lets you know how to feel.”

Can’t wait to see and hear more… check out the game’s page for additional info!