Villa Gorilla, the small studio that created Yoku's Island Express, describes it as a combination of pinball and a 'Metroid-vania" tribute. The game follows a tiny postman, Yoku, as he tries to free a tropical island's god from a curse, and he gets through the world as if it's a giant pinball machine.
That gave composer Jesse Harlin lots of leeway to create a soundtrack that's filled with homages to Pink Floyd, silent film pianos and bebop!
Find out in our conversation why Jesse told me this was his favorite score to write:
The developers at Villa Gorilla told Jesse they'd be happy with whatever he wrote, which was a totally new experience for him, and it took him a while to come up with a plan, which eventually became a core sample of all the music that inspired him to become a composer.
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Jesse describes his soundtrack as "everything but the kitchen sink," and instruments include trombones, classic electric guitars, saxophones, sampled Tuvan throat singing – even Jesse reciting the DNA of yeast!
Episode tracklist
All tracks by Jesse Harlin
Yoku's Island Express: Yoku Taidua and the Village
Caveland: Toku Tuka Tomba
Yoku's Island Express: Letting Off Steam; the Slug Gardener; Welcome to Mokumana Beach; Out Down in the Underdark; Flight of the Space Monks; Monk Stumpin' What Lies Beneath
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Thanks to Adrianna Perez, White Bear PR and
Greg O'Connor-Read, Top Dollar PR
