It seems alien to me that we once only knew Cliff Martinez as a former member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as since then he has wowed us with film soundtracks such as ‘Drive’, ‘Only God Forgives’, and ‘Solaris’. The acclaimed composers latest piece of work is the soundtrack for Ubisoft’s highly anticipated video game, ‘Far Cry 4’.
The soundtrack is being released on UK record label ‘Invada Records’, who although are not exclusively a soundtrack label, have proved to be a major force in the recent market for film and video game music – though Martinez wasn’t involved, the heavy synthetic ‘Far Cry 3’ soundtrack is one of their previous releases. They’ve also been involved in Cliff Martinez projects prior to ‘Far Cry 4’, such as their own release of the popular soundtrack that accompanied the crime thriller film ‘Drive’ starring Ryan Gosling.
‘Far Cry 4’ is a first-world shooter game set in the fictitious Himalayan Region of Kyrat, which Martinez successfully brings to life with his music, particularly on tracks such as ‘Welcome To Kyrat’, ‘Secrets Of The Goddess’, and ‘Unfamiliar Paths’, in which Martinez appears to take us on a journey to and through Kyrat, with what sounds like the use of traditional instruments you’d link with what is conveyed to be a ritualistic mountainous paradise.
Cliff Martinez is well known for conveying ranges of emotions with his music, as well as suspense, and he does exactly that on the ‘Far Cry 4’ soundtrack, introducing what he describes to be his ‘minimalistic cinematic approach’ to the immersive world of video games. Martinez shocked me with more of a warm, relaxed, and somewhat enticing sound on the opening track ‘Trial By Fire’, which although still has the Martinez touch we’re all so used to, also appears to feature a woman humming. The majority of the soundtrack features electronic sounding synthetics and percussion from Martinez; the music is almost addictive, having somewhat of a hypnotic effect on you as it leaves you excited for the next track. Some of the tracks such as ‘Sudden Trouble, ‘The Target’, and ‘Take Down’ are incredibly pulsating and remind me of the ‘Drive’ soundtrack, they reek with energy making it easy to imagine them side by side with exhilarating game play.
The album is currently available in double CD format featuring 45 minutes of bonus material, which isn’t included on the digital release, all in all providing around two hours of music from the game. Early 2015 will see the limited edition vinyl release of the soundtrack, which is sure to be in high demand!
By Laura Dean – @modestlaura
