ReMix:Final Fantasy IX "I'll Always Be There" 4:36

Flexstyle (Michael Birch) dedicated this upbeat EDM & spoken-word arrangement of FF9, off Worlds Apart, to his little sisters - it's a good story:

"Now, this started off rather unassumingly. I picked this song up on a whim for the FF9 remix album, just because I liked the tune. I haven't played Final Fantasy 9. However, that said, I felt like I understood Eiko just by reading a bit about her backstory. After reading a bit about Eiko on Wikipedia and a couple other sites, I felt something resonate inside me. See, I'm the oldest of nine kids in my family, and at the time of creating this, I had three younger sisters under the age of ten years old. I really, really love my little sisters; they mean so much to me.

What's the point of all that? Eiko is described as being desperately lonely, and someone who has lost a lot of family at a very young age. I made this song to dedicate to my little sisters, because I never want them to feel alone. Although it's not going to be possible at all times in this life, I still want them to know that I will always be there for them.

Hopefully, some of the love and tenderness that I feel for my "baby" sisters has seeped through in this remix."

Time for a collective "Awwwwwww!" :) Percolating, shiny EDM is the name of the game, with a spoken (whispered, really) refrain that repeatedly reassures. Tempo & bassline suggest this could have been a d'n'b track if it had wanted, and I do think some glitching/jungle treatment on the drums would have been interesting. Trance-gated chords lend a poppier feel, and shimmering bells resound over the very dynamic, modulated accompanying parts; there's a lot of stereo motion & filtering going on, which keeps things interesting. Larry writes:

"A little too muddy at the expense of the source sometimes, but pretty purposeful approach; I get what you're going for. Nice work, Mike, and a cool family tribute!"

I didn't have any issues with muddiness, personally, but I did find the accent/affect on the whispered bits a little odd, and I wanted the drums to do something more, probably in the DSP realm but also potentially with sequencing. Ultimately they stay out of the way, which does admittedly make the talking easier to distinguish and gives all that pad-level swim a bit more room. Either way, it's a positive & comforting but also brisk EDM treatment that's got a sweet story behind it - love your brothers & sisters and take care of them!