ReMix:Final Fantasy IX "Dragon's Oath" 4:58

Next up is new judge & ReMixer Jordi Storm:

"It's my honour to submit my and Earth Kid's fully acoustic arrangement of "Unforgettable Silhouette"; the theme of Freya from my all-time favourite game, Final Fantasy IX. I originally wrote the lyrics for this and made the vocal arrangement when I had just turned 17, 12 years ago. I always had the vision of this as a duet though, as somewhat of a tribute to the connection between Freya & Fratley and to their emotional storyline within the game.

I arranged the structure of the song with Earth Kid's input every step of the way, back in 2019. All the instruments you hear in this were performed by Earth Kid, apart from the Irish low whistle performance which I contributed. I made some amendments to the original lyrics I had written in 2010, and the language I'm singing in the backing of vocal performance of the first verse is one I call Etherean. These Etherean lyrics have no particular meaning, but were rather designed to complement the sound of the lyrics Earth Kid sings in that verse, and to add a sense of mystery. We originally collaborated on this for Materia Collective's EIDOLON album which has since been removed from the interwebs, but hopefully OC ReMix can serve as the perfect home for our little arrangement!

I couldn't have found a more perfect person to collaborate with on this project. I can say with complete certainty that Earth Kid's masterful instrumental performance and gorgeous harmonies made this arrangement richer than I ever could have made it, were this a solo project. It was a joy to mix together, and the track was mastered by the wonderful James C. Hoffman. I hope you all enjoy it, as it's one of the tracks I'm personally most proud of."

Absolutely lovely work, playing to the formidable musical talents of BOTH artists - warm, intimate, & complementary vocals in real & fictional languages, an agile, almost guitar-like performance on harp, and a flowing, glowing acoustic/folk vibe that hits me like an elven Simon & Garfunkel, which can only ever be praise. Liontamer writes:

"The delicate organic instrumentation and vocal interplay between Natalya and Jordi here are just tremendous examples of synergy. Having Jordi and EK trade as the lead and supporting vocalists at 2:33 was a beautiful variation in the presentation as well. I've always been a big fan of the original theme, and this is such a unique arrangement concept for it that I could indefinitely loop this collab and find new little nuances to these performances to enjoy. I've got nothing but respect and gratitude for these two special contributors to the scene, and in seeing Jordi's great personality, empathy, and sincere helpfulness in action on the panel, I look forward to seeing how those virtues will help and inspire other emerging artists submitting to OCR. :-)"

Yes, yes, & yes. Emotional, moving work from Jordi & Natalya - enjoy!