Although it has received generally positive reviews, there is some debate whether The Chinese Room’s Dear Esther is really a game at all, as it eschews most of the traditional aspects of game design in favor of something best described as an “interactive narrative.” However, there is no doubt that composer Jessica Curry’s score is a major character in the “game,” and the soundtrack provides much of the brooding, melancholic, and haunting atmosphere that pervades the title. 

Curry, who has worked with Dear Esther‘s developers on previous projects, as well as in film and art installations, has created a score that has no similarities to the traditional, testosterone-infused music so common in games. Curry’s score is entirely without bombast or overstatement, but consists of 15 cues (ranging in length from less than a minute to nearly ten) that are, in turn, poignant, romantic, disturbing, nostalgic, and surprising, but always in perfect emotional synch with the game’s visuals and evocative and cryptic spoken narrative.

On her website, Curry writes:

There is a pastoral melancholy to my pieces and an emotional current that unashamedly speaks of the human condition, Romanticism and an attempt to capture a timeless longing. I aim to create beautiful, powerful and provocative music that has a profound effect on the audience- where the music creates the sense of place and evokes unexpected emotional responses.

This is a perfect description of her score for Dear Esther as well as a summary of the game’s aesthetic. One of the things that sets the score apart from other game soundtracks is the way in which each cue is allowed to begin, develop, and conclude organically. Of course, this owes much to the design of the game, which is not about endless repetition of levels or areas but measured exploration and contemplation. Although some of the longer cuts (such as “Always (Hebridean mix)”) feel like perfect, complete examples of concert music, nearly the entire soundtrack is a satisfying, stand-alone listening experience.

Curry’s musical language and syntax are understated and combine simple harmonic patterns alternating with moments of lush, romantic harmony and dissonance, and textures that are nearly always transparent and light, primarily strings (often using harmonics and sounding like Renaissance viols), piano, and voice, with some electronic manipulation and effects used sparingly. Like the game, Curry’s score contains many moments that are open to emotional interpretation.  For those who like to play “spot the influences,” there were moments that reminded me of some of the quieter moments of Bear McCreary’s score for Battlestar Galatica, a bit or two of 16th century polyphonic consort music, and a hint of the disturbing Yutaka Minobe score for Rule of Rose.

Listen to a selection of triple-A game scores and you will hear a wearying similarity: “heroic” horns, pounding percussion (apparently signifying excitement), world instruments to add color, and a near total lack of genuine, non-manufactured emotional content. Jessica Curry’s soundtrack for Dear Esther is about as far removed from that cliched world as possible, and is simply one of the best, most original, and most memorable scores I’ve heard in a long time.

Written by Mark Steighner  (59 Posts)

When not playing the role of composer, director, conductor, playwright, and educator, Mark Steighner slips into his secret identity as a video games journalist and games enthusiast. Mark spent a number of years reviewing games for gamershell.com and contributing to the now-defunct “Eat My Bomb” gamershell podcast. Mark lives in the Pacific Northwest.