I don’t really like Florence + The Machine and I haven’t really been following FFXV‘s development, so this came as a surprise. But these songs, in all honesty, are lush and beautiful in a way that I think the franchise deserves.
Since FFX, I feel like the series has been veering towards the CW in terms of maudlin. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I love YA Dystopian novels as much as anyone, it’s just that the execution is sometimes off. These songs, for me, are evidence that Square Enix are taking the right cues from the dwindling returns of that box office genre: enlisting indie darling Florence Welch’s powerhouse voice feels a lot like getting Arcade Fire to write a song for The Hunger Games.
Tonally, I hope they function the same way. They’re certainly pushing the same emotional buttons — in each of these songs Welch mixes in classic tracks from the Final Fantasy franchise. She really seems to understand what kinds of games and stories these songs will accompany. On her decision to collaborate with Square Enix, she said, “In some ways the landscape of Final Fantasy and my own internal landscape seemed to fit quite well. It’s mythical and beautiful and epic.”
I certainly agree. Combined with swelling strings, layered vocals and sheer magnitude of these songs, I get a weird tug on my heart when I listen to them. It’s manipulative to play on my nostalgia like this, but it’s done so adeptly I don’t care. There’s a fucking harp in “I Will Be,” and it’s so delicate and lovely. We can only hope that Final Fantasy XV is as loud, dense, weird and triumphant as these songs are.
Comments
17 responses to “Florence + The Machine’s Songs For Final Fantasy XV Are Perfect”
*lurks around random comment section because bored at work*
I know it’s with different writers but one article saying the songs don’t fit and are ‘weird’, and another saying they’re perfect? Who is editing this website?
It’s OK to have differing points of view!
Wait, we’re expected to form our own opinion based on facts and views presented from differing standpoints instead of being told what to think? I’m not sure I can handle that responsibility.
Some might even say it’s more interesting that way
Obviously.
But a site like this with conflicting articles looks incoherent and it’s like nobody communicated before the articles went out. It’s not particularly professional looking.
They pull this sort of thing a fair bit.
To me though it seems more like a click-bait tactic when articles on the same site start disagreeing with one another.
How so? Something “looking” a certain way is not basis for an argument. I see two opposing views represented, how is that incoherent? Manipulative perhaps.
I have a bit of a soft spot for Florence’s vocals & genuinely found these tracks to be great, so brought them on Google Play (cheaper for all three songs than to get one of them strangely enough).
Am hoping that they fit the game well but am guessing we’ll see them in cut scenes or the like where stuff can be edited to fit the music.
Because nothing says Final Fantasy like Florence and the Machine…….
it’s like the worlds gone topsy turvy or something? Who are you people?
Where did you come from? and did you just read about final fantasy yesterday or something?
Most of the final fantasy’s that I’ve played always had amazing piano melodies, and maybe like orchestral tracks for epic moments maybe even some metal or alt.
Any tracks that had some sort of singing,(even the ones in Japanese) were always on the nose, and took you out of the game imo.
Some of my favourite songs from FF have lyrics, despite me being mostly an instrumentals and soundtracks kind of person. Eyes on You – FF VIII, Answers and Heavensward – FF XIV, Real Emotion – FFX-2, Maria and Draco – FFVI
nothing will beat Man with a Machine gun though. NOTHING.
I dunno, You are not alone is pretty damn amazing. As to lyrics I really enjoyed the upbeat Sunleth Waterscape theme. Another for the list is the theme that plays in the opening cinematic to FFARR where bahamut is fucking shit up and all the classes get shown off before being teleported away by dude whose name I can’t remember.
Answers is the song used in the ARR intro.
You guys must be immune to the cheese, because i just checked out those songs, and yeah super cheesey to me. I think the FF mmo’s are different music wise, i haven’t played them so I don’t really have an opinion.
As for regular FF, yeah the songs with singing still sound bad to me, with few exceptions choirs etc. And with the exceptions I liked them because i didn’t know who they were (ff10 metal band). Having like a popular band be in FF game, is just strange. Because it’s tying that fantasy world to our world which just feels weird thematically.
Excuse me sir, have you heard about our good lord Gulug Volcano?
FFXIV uses (English) vocals for most Trial fights and they all match the boss, or in the case with the Alexander Raid, location (goals, motives, history, etc).
Locus: https://youtu.be/3cKy5Qk0QMM
This song implies that Alexander has the Goblin Illuminati under its control, yet they have absolutely no idea they’re being controlled/influenced.
The Brute Justice version is so good. Pure Super Sentai vibes.
FF music (like everything else) changed a lot once the old guard got forced out of Squenix. I don’t personally mind the post-X stuff but I’m with you – Uematsu’s stuff was iconic, especially the run from 6 through 9. The stuff after X is just different. I don’t mind it but it’s sort of just there. Even if they wanted to, they can’t call on Uematsu much any more either, because he’s no longer at the company and I got the feeling the breakup wasn’t that amicable. I feel like the last stuff to really hearken back to the classic FF days out of Squenix is the soundtrack from Bravely Default, which of course they decided to ruin by not getting Revo back to do the sequel.
That said, for the themes they seem to be going with with FFXV I don’t think that Florence and the Machine is a bad choice, especially using a cover of Stand By Me. It’s a story about a group of male models going on a road trip or something after all. 😛