ReMix:Kingdom Hearts II "Dear Serenity" 4:37

We take a daytrip out of the city of Chronopolis with this next Kingdom Hearts 2 ReMix from newcomer Tune in with Chewie (Nestor Estrada), collaborating with Kristin Naigus (oboe) & HOUNDTRACK (field recordings) - Nestor writes:

"Here is my arrangement of "Dearly Beloved." I've always been a HUGE fan of Yoko Shimomura's work on the Kingdom Hearts series (and more). It took me a while to figure out the direction I wanted to take with this one. I bought some new modules for my Eurorack recently and, while experimenting, an idea began to take shape. That idea became the foundation for this track. Everything else fell into place right after.

HOUNDTRACK recorded ambience from a lake and you can hear that starting at around 1:02 (wind chimes from the porch he was recording). It's barely audible, but it's there to create ambience for that section. I reached out to a friend to perform the oboe part I had written down and everything else was performed by me using analog gear, guitar, bass, and virtual software (some of which I sound designed myself and programmed to be playable through Kontakt).

Who's excited about Kingdom Hearts 3?!"

KH3 was released of course & has been met with general praise, but I'm just as excited about the sound design in Nestor's KH2 mix - guitar in particular is used in an ambient, almost Fripp/Eno capacity, the subtle natural sound FX have precisely the desired effect, the synths are warm and inhabit the song's universe rather than floating on top or outside of it, and Kristin's oboe performance adds a glowing, flowing melodic line to complete the picture. It's vivid, it's different, and it paints with some wonderful colors, making for an arrangement which is sound design-forward but still structured & narrative. Sir_NutS writes:

"Really good stuff here. What I enjoyed the most was the detail in the ambiance textures used throughout the track, though that's only one thing that makes this track pretty awesome, as arrangement itself is pretty creative and unique. Some sections like 2:22 or 4:07 may throw off some listeners used to the original due to the unusual harmonies and structure but I really loved them. The production side of things is good as well, with great sequencing and performances."

Concur; *everything* is strong, but the texture & sound design elevate the whole and make it all work. I enjoyed reading MindWanderer's thoughts:

"It's an eclectic mix, keeps you guessing despite flowing smoothly. The guitar work is a little gritty and sits oddly with the clean rest of the soundscape, but that's more a stylistic thing than an objective complaint. Kind of reminds me of the Life is Strange OST. Given how strange the rest of the arrangement was, the fade-out didn't bother me at all, it was just another oddity. It's original and memorable. Let's get it up."

I took the guitar work with a post-rock kinda mentality, so it made sense to me, but I agree that the artist very deftly juggles varied textures along with tone & rhythm. I wasn't 100% sold on the drums towards the conclusion, but I really didn't need to be; the freeze-frame beauty captured earlier in a series of evolving textural moments made this hypnotic & engaging at the same time. Transporting and unique while remaining very accessible, with key assists from Krstin and HT - superb debut from Tune in with Chewie. I'm glad we did!