ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "Dream 'til Tomorrow" 4:01

Earth Kid (Natalya May) makes her solo debut with this touching, emotional new age/folk FF6 vocal ballad from Hometown Heroes: Town Themes Arranged:

""Kids Run Through the City" from Final Fantasy VI has always felt like it should be a lullaby to me, especially after hearing Risa Ohki sing it on the Final Fantasy Vocal Collections I: Pray arrangement album many years ago.

For my rendition, I decided to go for a more bare, subdued arrangement using harp, piano, a couple vocal layers, and a little tenor recorder. I sang, wrote the lyrics, and performed all the instruments myself.

The source has a lot of personal meaning to me -- I sang this melody to my son every night when he was a baby. (Until, of course, he turned 2-going-on-20 and decided he didn't want to be sung to at bedtime anymore!)

I wrote the first draft of lyrics and initial concept of my arrangement in 2016, and then I recently had an opportunity to bring it to life for the Hometown Heroes album. The two years in between initial concept and completion gave me additional perspective and parenting experience, inspiring me to refine the lyrics to their current state.

Final Fantasy VI has another relevant element to it that I feel many other games don't have: one of its main characters finds love and happiness in the role of a mother. So, as I wrote the lyrics, I also imagined this being something that Terra Branford would sing to her children in Mobliz.

In making this arrangement, I wanted to pay homage to one of my all-time favorite video games while also composing a personal message to my child that I hope other parents or parental figures may find relatable. Enjoy!"

What a wonderful & heartfelt solo debut, and a perfect contribution to the album; the theme of HH seemed to elicit some more personal, autobiographical arranging from artists, and this is a great example of that working out quite well. The transformation to lullaby is realized through both emotive & warm performances as well as an arrangement that knows how to highlight them. Given Natalya's multi-instrumental skills and the intimate nature of the subject material, the rest falls into place gracefully. Becoming a parent changes (unlocks?) your emotional DNA, and you often see & feel things in ways (and to degrees) that you previously could not, or at least did not. That's been my experience, at least; it might seem like the world these days is filled with vast uncertainty and ever-darkening clouds, but I think our species has always been living in that type of shadow, and such is the role of the parent to simultaneously prepare & educate but also to comfort & reassure. This mix focuses more on the second pair of responsibilities, and might even make some adults feel better after reading the latest headlines. Fellow dad Larry Oji writes:

"Beautiful work here from Natayla, with very effective chorusing; this would have fit in perfectly on our Esther's Dreams album. The lyrics are thoughtful and person, which I appreciate with a 2-year-old of my own, and I also laughed at her son getting too old to be sung to anymore; it all happens so fast, the little brats. ;-)

There's obvious -- and I'd say well-earned -- comparisons to be made with the legendary Erutan/katethegreat19 in that Earth Kid is also both an accomplished instrumentalist and vocalist. There's one pitchy moment at 1:19 that should have been smoothed out, but it's very minor with an organic and emotional piece like this. Within the Hometown Heroes album, a reassuring lullaby from a loving mother in one's home is one of many great ways the project's artists embraced the concept.

Whether it's her pop prowess on Jorito's Suikoden III track from the same album or this, I've already mentioned that I dig Earth Kid's range and truly look forward to what else is up her sleeve. A very strong OCR debut these past few weeks for Natalya!"

Ditto that; this ReMix added a personal & more nurturing/comforting element to Hometown Heroes, helping further diversify what "home" can conjure for different people, and lending a mother's touch & perspective to the project. Very glad to be posting Natalya's solo debut on OCR, and interested in what the future may hold!