Posted 2020-07-01, evaluated by Rexy


We've come to the end of our Golden Sun: A World Reignited flood, and the end of the album as well, with a completely unique final track surprise unlike anything we've posted in 20 years - our first k-pop style ReMix!

Our first featured arrangement from Vylent (Darryl Cummings) has him collaborating with the very talented Spy Girls (Anny and Zini) from South Korea on an idea originally proposed by TSori, who also contributed lyrics and trumpet. I've learned to expect the unexpected, over the years, but this one caught me off guard in the best of ways... it's not just k-pop, it's really good k-pop, which also injects some of the album's themes of live brass parts & epic motifs. Darryl writes:

"Hello, Vylent here. This track was a weird one for me. I had just turned in my first remix for the album ("A Heart of Stone") when TSori came to me with the idea of creating a K-pop-style track for the album. I had never done anything even close to K-pop in my portfolio, but I was up for the challenge. To keep this brief, I ended up creating a track with a sort of duality; mimicking a Latin/pop style with the bouncy lyrics that I would hear from a lot of J-pop (different regions I know, pleae don't hate me) tracks while mixing my familiar epic-stye orchestra that I love to create.

I actually had created the entire track with a variety of Vocaloids which I was quite proud of, but TSori (who also performed the trumpets featured) was working behind the scenes to get actual singers for the track.

When the vocalists (Spy Girls) had recorded and sent over their parts (from Korea!), I was actually blown away with the quality! The rap section (TSori's idea) was executed to a degree that I wasn't expecting and all of the main sections and harmonies were performed very well. I barely had to tweak the vocals sonically when I recieved them. This ended up becoming a memorable experience I was glad to be a part of!

  • Vylent - arrangement, VSTs, mixing
  • TSori - trumpet, lyrics
  • Spy Girls (Anny, Zini) - vocals, lyrics

I'm just still kind of in awe of how this came together; it's like a mini project/story *within* the larger album project. This was Darryl's first attempt at something in this genre? The lyrics were collaborated on internationally? 어서오세요 Spy Girls, who write:

"Hi! We are Anny and Zini of Spy Girls from Korea! We are very excited to be working on this wonderful project. It was very fun. Thanks to Logan, we look forward to meeting new viewers. We make new K-pop videos every week and we also have original songs. You can see all of this on our YouTube channel. Please visit. Thank you!"

If you dig this track, check out their links for more! TSori (Logan Thomas) confesses:

"K-pop is my ultimate guilty pleasure... or at least it would be if I felt at all guilty about it. I really wanted to work a K-pop track into this album, but with electronic instruments being, WELL, outside my skill set, I knew I was going to need a lot of help. Vylent's catchy and somewhat bizarre track on the Arcadia Legends album remains one of my absolute favorites, so I pitched him the idea of doing a K-pop track, and he was glad to give it a try. I got pretty busy with other tracks and directorial duties, and, before I knew it, Vylent had put this great arrangement together himself! He helped me to find a place to bring in some live trumpet and also made some room for me to write a short rap, a staple of K-pop. The end result kind of blended K-pop, J-pop, and Vylent's more typical style into something new. That left me to do a bit of recording, write lyrics, and recruit a singer. When it came to the lyrics, I wanted them to be game-specific, but also very stereotypically K-pop. So we got Mia singing to Alex about his betrayal in a way that could really be just about any teenage girl singing to a stupid boy. Add some stereotypical phrases like "there's no more crying," a couple random English language lyrics, a girl power rap, and you have yourself some K-pop lyrics! Special shout out here to my friend Kevin, who helped me fix several grammatical mistakes in the first draft of the lyrics!

Almost as soon as I started mulling over the idea of a K-pop song, I was looking at YouTube K-pop covers in search of a singer. Finding the Spy Girls, Anny and Zini, was like striking gold. They were both obviously talented singers, with excellent senses of musicality. They had several thousand followers, but still replied to every comment on their videos. They also both seemed to have outgoing, friendly personalities. I figured all of that together would make them the perfect people to ask, and I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. They tweaked the lyrics in a handful of places to make them flow a bit better and came up with their own harmony parts. Then, their recordings just blew me away. Anny's voice was a perfect fit in both the "cutesy" first verse as well as when she belts it out in the chorus. I asked them to give the rap some attitude and, wow, did Zini ever deliver on that. "Fierce!" is the only way I can think to describe it.

"What I Want to Say (하고 싶은 말)" was a blast to put together, and I really look forward to getting to work with Vylent, Anny, and Zini again. Enjoy!"

So many good decisions on this mix - an incomplete list:

  • Funky electric piano bassline intro!
  • GUIRO FILL!
  • Token English catch phrase!
  • Half-tempo/dubsteppy chorus!
  • Reversed effect under rise-fall arpeggios circa 1'41"!
  • Glitch/cut transition leading into the rap!
  • THE RAP!
  • Doubling up/harmonizing the trumpet bits!
  • GUIRO ENDING!

...and that's not even a complete list. And of course, the vocals are beautiful, spot-on, and make everything work. My daughters were dancing around to this in my office just now, so it's also got the Lloyd Girls coveted seal of approval. This is catchy af, insanely well-executed, & offers something distinct on the album AND on all of OCR while also fitting in with the game/context. So...

...a standing ovation to Vylent, TSori, & Spy Girls for this closing track & accomplishment - highly recommended!

...and so is the whole album, ultimately. I'm very grateful and never take for granted how lucky I am, and OCR is, to work with album directors like Darkflamewolf, Jorito, and now TSori, all of whom have brought energy, superb coordination skills, patience, but most importantly passion to their respective projects. TSori's level of analysis and involvement in so many areas of this project really floored me, and I think it shines through in the end result. Orioto delivered fitting, majestic artwork, Siolfor helped with tagging & logistics, and bubblepipemedia deserves a special shoutout for mastering the whole enchilada & accommodating some late-breaking tweaks. As always, Larry Oji came through with the last mile work of QC & package prep. And of course, none of this would have meant much without all the music, contributed by a diverse roster of amazing artists.

We hope you've enjoyed this journey through some of the (many) highlights on the album; we'll be featuring more selections in the weeks & months to come, but in the meantime, enjoy ALL of Golden Sun: A World Reignited!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 8 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
TSori
on 2020-07-31 22:33:40

thanks @YoshMaster! Its cool that you got a little bit of a latin vibe from it. one of the kpop songs i showed Vylent really early on as "examples" of the style had a decidedly latin feel to it. Maybe some of that translated into Vylent's excellent arrangement :-). and I 'm with you on the singers. we were so lucky to get Anny and ZIni to join us!

avatar
YoshMaster
on 2020-07-27 16:23:12

Holy COW this is catchy!! Amazing track! The latin/kpop mix is so good! Just love that light catchy drum beat in the verses! Also the vocals are the absolute best ever heard on OCR! Great job!!

avatar
Emunator
on 2020-07-20 23:24:47

This is so amazing, what a great opportunity to bring such talented musicians together. I really, really love this :)

avatar
Mr. Hu
on 2020-07-16 12:57:34

Cool video! Hopefully attracts even more eyeballs. 8O

avatar
TurtleSwift
on 2020-07-14 14:28:44

This one really stands out from the whole OcReMix collection. Just wow! I never played Golden Sun and I very rarely delve into K-Pop but maybe I should try doing it more!

avatar
TSori
on 2020-07-14 12:55:32

Thanks @Mr. Hu! Thats really high praise!

Also. The Spygirls put together a music video for this track!

avatar
Mr. Hu
on 2020-07-02 16:13:40

Great idea and super great execution. Absolutely a stand-out, and not just amongst the album, which is itself a stand-out in OCR albums. Love the confidence of the vocals and the juxtaposing somber trumpet.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2020-06-30 02:43:03

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Nintendo , 2002, GBA)
Music by Motoi Sakuraba
Songs:
"The Golden Sun Rises"

Tags (12)


Genre:
Pop
Mood:
Energetic,Funky
Instrumentation:
Electric Piano,Piano,Synth,Trumpet,Vocals: Female,Vocals: Rapping
Additional:
Effects > Reversing
Lyrics > Lyrics: Original
Production > Live Instruments

File Information


Name:
Golden_Sun_The_Lost_Age_What_I_Want_to_Say_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,760,809 bytes
MD5:
5035e4dd3f9e9010237d365b3d268ee3
Bitrate:
224Kbps
Duration:
3:22

KOREAN:

[Verse 1]
어렸을 때 부터
우리 친했는데
이젠 함께 있는데도
Now you're so far away

모르겠 어
늘 믿었었는데
전부 다 변해버렸어
너무나 낯선 너
배신자야

[Chorus 1]
이밀 겨울 처럼
얼어붙은 내 심장
나 어지럽고 헷갈려요
이대로는 안될것 같아
이밀 겨울 처럼
매마른 내 심장
나 어지럽고 헷갈려요
이대로는 못 살 것같아

[Verse 2]
어쩔 수 없지 뭐
뭐든 의미없어.
너의 맘은 이미 결정 되버렸는걸.
I'm making mine
이제는 알겠어
나 뒤돌아보지 않아
더 이상 이제
울지 않아

[Chorus 2]
쉽게 넌 다 버리고 갔어
이제 다 변하게 될거야
쉽게 넌 다 버리고 갔어
이제 다 변하게 될거야

[Rap]
날 신경 쓰는 척이야
근데 맘에 있는 공간 날 위하지 않아
이제 보나 마나 뻔하다
이기적인 야심밖에 아무것도 없어

조종하고 거짓말로
니가 원한 모든 것들 얻지 못할걸
모든 다른 패자들 처럼
평생을 한심한 외톨이로 살게 될거야

[Chorus 2]

KOREAN (ROMANIZED):

[Verse 1]
Eoryeosseeulddae buteo
Oori chinhaetneunde
Ijen hamkke itneundedo
Now you're so far away

Moreugesseo
Neul mideosseotneunde
Jeonbu da byeonhaebeoryeosseo
Neomuna natseon neo
Baesinjaya

[Chorus 1]
Imil gyeoul cheoreom
Eoreobuteun nae simjang
Na eojireobgo hetgallyeoyo
Idaeroneun andwoil geot gata
Imil gyeoul cheoreom
Maemareun nae simjang
Na eojireobgo hetgallyeoyo
Idaeroneun mot sal geot gata

[Verse 2]
Eojjeol su eobji mweo
Mweodeun uimi eobseo
Neoui mameun imi gyeoljeongdwoibeoryeossneun geol
I'm making mine
Ijeneun algesseo
Na dwidolaboji anha
Deo isang ije
Ulji anha

[Chorus 2]

[Rap]
Nal singyeongsseuneeun cheokiya
Geunde mame issneun gonggan nal wihaji ana
Ije bona mana bbeonhada
Igijeokin yasimbakke amugeotdo eobseo

Jojonghago geojitmallo
Modeun wonhan geotdeul eodji mothalgeol
Modeun dareun paejadeul cheoreom
Pyeongsaengeul hansimhan woitoliro salge dwoilgeoya

[Chorus 2]
Swibge neon da beorigo gasseo
Iji da byeonhage dwoilgeoya
Swibge neon da beorigo gasseo
Iji da byeonhage dwoilgeoya

ENGLISH:

[Verse 1]
Since we were young
We were close
Even though we're together
Now you're so far away

I don't know
I always trusted you
But everything has changed
You're so strange
You're a traitor

[Chorus 1]
Like an Imil winter
My heart is frozen
I'm dizzy and confused
It's not going to work this way
Like an Imil winter
My heart is parched
I'm dizzy and confused
I can't live this way

[Verse 2]
That's that
It doesn't mean anything
You've already made your choice
I'm making mine
Alright from now on
I'm not looking back
Now there's no more crying

[Chorus 2]
You threw everything away so easily
Now it's all changing
You threw everything away so easily
Now it's all changing

[Rap]
You act like you care about me
but there's no room for me in your heart
It's obvious now
There's nothing there but selfish ambition

You'll never get what you want
through manipulation and lies
You'll spend your life alone
Like every other loser

[Chorus 2]

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