ReMix:Terranigma "Will We Meet Again?" 5:45

Happy 2020! We begin the year/decade with a continuation of last year's late-breaking release of Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma, featuring a stellar synthwave/synth-pop collab medley of resurrection/revival themes:

• Jorito - arrangement, lyrics, vocoder/talk box vocals, production
• Sirenstar - lead vocals
• Juan Medrano - electric guitar

Jorito (Jorrith Schaap) writes:

"Near the end of the Terranigma album project, I found myself inspired to take on another track. I was pretty intrigued by the "resurrection medley" on the list of available tracks. When I sat down and played with the main arpeggio from "Into the Door," suddenly synthwave happened. Not a bad thing, not at all!

Fortunately, the other resurrection/revival themes have a decent amount of melodic content buried in them, so I took what I could and just ran with it. The arrangement more or less wrote itself after that, and while the connection with the resurrection themes might not click instantly (mostly because you hardly hear these songs in the game), it actually has a ton of source in it. I also tried to incorporate the game's themes of resurrection and reincarnation into the lyrics. Same as Manji in his end credits arrangement, I found myself inspired by the same line from the game's script -- "If we are bound by fate, we will meet again in time, somewhere" -- and that quickly became the foundation for the track.

Finding somebody who could do both the synthwave genre and the lyrics justice was a bit of a dilemma. After some asking around, I found Sirenstar, who has been active mostly in Materia Collective, and she turned out to be not only a great synthwave fan, but also a great fan of Quintet! Both turned out to be a great help, because she did the parts justice and even pointed me to some new synthwave artists to enjoy. :)

I also had some guitar parts written, but was in need of a guitarist to play them. Help arrived in the form of Juan Medrano, a.k.a. Sixto Sounds, whom I have always admired for his great guitar work. Turns out we both dig the '80s sound, so getting him on board was mostly a formality. Or in his words: "'80s as fuck. Melodic as fuck, keep coming to me for guitar parts," followed by a "I dig it!" when he heard the final version. Gotta hand it to the man, he has a flair with words just as much as he makes his guitar sing. Especially dig the tasty solo!

Once all parts were recorded, I still wasn't 100% happy with the flow and how the theme was represented; it had no anchor, so to speak. After some thinking, I settled on recording some more vocals on talk box (the recurring "Will we meet again?") and that really seemed to glue the track together. Hope you dig it, and till we meet again!

Source breakdown:

Since it's quite a creative mix that takes bits and pieces from multiple sources, I figured a breakdown would be helpful:

• the arp from "Into the Door" plays throughout most of the track
• the lead part from "Green Returns" (:12-:34) is used for the vocals in the verses
• the lead part from "Green Returns" (:46-:58) is used for the vocals in the choruses
• the string part from "Firm Steps" (:21-:37) is used for the lead guitar parts; first in 1:06-1:18, and with more elaborated versions at 2:40-2:51 and 4:40-4:53
• ...and as a last and maybe less obvious reference, the ascending chord buildup from "Green Returns" at 1:28-1:36 can be found in the solo section (3:06-3:46)

Sirenstar adds:

"Really excited to be on my first OCR release. ♥ I had a great time working with Jorito, he's an awesome producer with a solid sound and vision for his track. Even better that it's a community dedication to a Quintet game! Lastly, this only furthered my synthwave habit. XD"

And album co-director Trism weighs in:

"When Jorito sent me this track's early WIP, I thought I'd accidentally opened my 80's synthwave playlist (don't pretend you don't have one). Then he just casually mentioned he was including vocals and guitar solos, as if it wasn't a big thing. The outcome is more '80s than '80s and is a perfect closing track for the first disc, giving a sense of hope for the rest of the adventure."

This was Liontamer's favorite track from the album, and given that it's three discs long & pretty hot throughout, that's saying something. He writes:

"My favorite piece from the album, and just a supremely creative arrangement approach. Really smart, creative usage of all 3 source themes that clicks together seamlessly alongside the original writing ideas here. Epic, beautiful, and though-provoking vocals from Natalie, and impactful guitar performances by Juan. Natalie, welcome aboard, and I hope we hear more submissions with your involvement as well! I will definitely check out more of your past Materia Collective work. :-)

Jorrith, once again, you are the master of collaborations. Not to old man myself, but you've come such a long way from your first big OCR collab not in terms of your scope bring grander (you've had big concepts since you arrived), but in the execution and polish. Not trying to say my opinion is important, but insofar as I've been listening to your work, I'm just proud of your growth and refinement as an artist. It's always a pleasure hearing you bring your ideas to life and teaming up with talented creators like Natalie, Juan, and so many others. Great work, everyone. :-)"

Ditto all that :) We'll have new mixes & new albums aplenty in 2020, but starting the year with such a badass track, from an album we're extremely proud of, seems appropriate. Highly recommended!