ReMix:Skies of Arcadia "Hearth and Home" 5:57

This lovely, heartwarming (hearthwarming?) classical/chamber arrangement from newcomer Juke gives Arcadia Legends a seasonally-appropriate & comfortable winter holiday vibe while blending sublime solo string work with clarinet, flute, some brief vocalizing, and ensemble strings/brass:

"Having listened to my recent submission, Tarrey Town remix, Modus showed interest in having me submit a track for the project album. There were three tracks left available from the SoA soundtrack; having never played the game before, I listened to each one to see which might suit my current abilities the best. The credits immediately grabbed my attention, and I told him to reserve the track for me to make a remix.

Overall, I tried my best to make sure that the main three themes/credits theme could be heard throughout the song. In particular, I wanted to start off the song with the first three themes to sound very close to the original piece before I expanded on them.

This was a really enjoyable, challenging experience. I had never heard of this game or the OST before this project, so I'm really happy to be introduced to such great music. Hopefully, I did the credits justice and hopefully it brings this project and album to a positive conclusion."

Justice was done; especially on the solo violin and cello parts, there's a warmth & intimacy that makes this emotionally effective. If it were from a town theme and not a staff roll, especially based on the title, you could easily picture it having been a standout track on Hometown Heroes :) Larry Oji writes:

"Structurally, this was a conservative approach, and Juke noted that he wanted to preserve the three movements of the original, which had me wondering if he'd be able to personalize his take enough. Ultimately, there was nothing to fret about. The way the strings are presented as more of a focal point here amongst a small ensemble gives a beautiful and intimate new dimension to this theme. (That's instead of a bigger orchestration like the the original, until the final minute at least.) The subtle escalation of the ensemble from 1:05-1:48, for example, was a moment of beauty.

The ending felt too soft relative to what came before it and exposed the sample some, and there were some stiff moments with the sequencing, but these weren't jarring issues, and the arrangement was easily carried by the strength of Juke's personalization. A lovely way to conclude the album, and a smartly arranged debut from Juke to welcome him to OCR! :-) Can't wait to dig into more from Arcadia Legends for you all!"

Stirring, comforting, and inviting, this was a great way to conclude the album, and particularly fitting to the wintry season in which the album has been released. Superb OCR debut from Juke that does everything it sets out to do, tugs at the heartstrings in all the right ways, and concludes the FIRST stretch of our flood of featured mixes from Arcadia Legends!