Sayonara Wild Hearts Composer on Creating the First ‘Pop Album Video Game’ – Feature
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It seems that video game music continues to grow and reach new heights with each passing year. Amazing soundtracks are no longer limited to big-budget titles and the work of long-established names, as the Indie space and the growth of tools and knowledge have ushered in a new generation of songwriters. One example is Daniel Olsén, who was part of a talented team that made waves with Simogo’s 2019 ‘Pop Album Video Game’ Sayonara Wild Hearts.
In some respects, that game and its creative process were quite unique. Olsén’s journey to this project is also interesting, since his career in the video game industry began as an artist and animator; the transition to music, which turned a hobby into an occupation, took place over several years. He worked on Year Walk, a riveting game some will remember from Wii U, and Olsén also delivered some fantastic music and audio design most recently on The Gardens Between.
We spoke with him about his career to date and unique experiences working on the Sayonara Wild Hearts soundtrack.
Nintendo Life: First of all, can you talk a bit about your early days in game development and your initial transition to audio and music design?
Daniel Olsén: In fact, I started out as a 2D / 3D artist and animator, and had been doing it for a few years in different companies. Music was something he did at home, he was also part of a band at that time.
Finally the company I was working for needed music and I just asked if I could do it. From then on, I gradually moved more and more towards doing only music.
Among your early game projects in audio design, is there a game that feels like a breakthrough for your career and skill set?
Since we are Swedish, the culture, stories and feeling of Swedish melancholy are ingrained in us.
One in particular would be ilomyl by Southend Interactive. That was my first time working on audio alone on a game, so I had a lot more time spent working on it rather than just being a side project. It was definitely a growth experience for me.
How did you come to participate in Year Walk, your first project with Simogo, and what were the most important parts of that experience?
At the time, I was working at a tech company and I missed working on games. One day my old Southend Interactive colleague Simon Flesser contacted me and asked if I wanted to write music for a new Simogo title. So thanks to Year Walk I started working on game music again and also started my collaboration with Simogo.
Is there a greater sense of responsibility when a game like Year Walk focuses on traditional folk tales, with the cultural relevance it brings?
Since we are Swedish, the culture, stories and feeling of Swedish melancholy are ingrained in us. I remember thinking about the melodies I heard growing up in the country. So you only know when it feels good. In the end, we didn’t have to try too hard to keep the “folklore” going. Instead, we could focus on telling a story and perhaps ‘stretching’ what might be accepted as traditional.
Some of our readers may have heard your work on The Gardens Between as well; Can you talk a bit about the highlights of that project, from your perspective?
I really enjoyed working on that game and with that team. It was a new experience to enter a project at such a late stage: the music was already there and the work on the sound effects had begun. It’s hard to be confident when you pick up where someone left off, so at first, I was more cautious than I would be otherwise. The team then told me that The Gardens Between was inspired by the Year Walk and that they were happy to have me there, which gave me more confidence to work the way I usually do.
It was a very satisfying project to work on, from a development perspective. Due to the linear design of the stage, the sound effects were also designed in a linear fashion, similar to Sayonara Wild Hearts in some respects. Instead of things happening randomly, everything was planned so that most of the sounds could be designed for a specific moment. From an audio perspective, it was more the style of a movie or scene than a game.
Some of his most recent work was with Simogo, once again, on audio design and the Sayonara Wild Hearts soundtrack; Can you talk a bit about the collaborative process of producing a ‘pop album video game’, and how those processes maybe differed from your previous work?
It was definitely more of a challenge as the music was a main focus of the game, center stage. So there was a feeling of having to make the music more accessible and not too abstract.
As for the process, I had never worked on a collaboration like that before: first receiving a song, with guitar and vocals, from Jonathan Eng, and then turning it into an electronic piece with Linnea Olsson redoing the vocals. It was completely new to me, but overall the songs felt “bigger” than anything I could do on my own. I think everyone on the team grew immensely during this project.
As for the process, I have never worked on a collaboration like that before … I think everyone on the team grew immensely during this project.
We find it interesting that when you first play the stages are in conventional segmented levels, with the option to replay the experience as an unlockable ‘album’. Was it tempting to have the ‘Album’ playback available from the beginning? Does the album focus change the feel of a playback, in your opinion?
It was definitely a difficult decision; All the way to the end of the project, we were back and forth over whether we should start with just album mode and unlock the singles or vice versa. Personally album
The mode gives me a more nostalgic feeling. When I was young, I would always go to bed with headphones on, look at the artwork or close my eyes and listen to an entire album when I had just bought it. That sense of
experiencing everything at once is special – artists generally take the time to choose the correct order of songs so that you have a sense of history, fluidity, and progression. However, in the end, it felt good to go for the singles first because it would make it easier for the player to enter the game rather than having an hour-long challenge right out of the box.
The Sayonara Wild Hearts soundtrack, combined of course with the game itself, gained a lot of attention. What was the biggest opportunity or highlight for you working on the game?
What I liked the most was going out and playing music; I did two DJ sessions that I really enjoyed. But the highlight was the launch party in Malmö. Linnea and I did a set together while Simon played
the game on the projector behind us. It just felt extremely good and memorable.
As you focus on your next projects, what are your broad creative goals as your career progresses?
The most important thing is that I want to enjoy the projects I am working on. It may seem obvious, but if it’s not fun or doesn’t spark my creative side, I could work on something else as well. Second, I want to continue growing as a songwriter. There is a lot to learn and there are so many areas in which I still feel like a total beginner.
With the role and importance of music and audio design in games continuing to grow, what do you hope to see in this area in the years to come?
In my opinion, game composers are underrated in many cases in the industry. I know many successful songwriters who are not getting the pay they deserve and are struggling to make a living. I also hope that we can see more studios bring in songwriters to work on the games early on and be a part of the whole project as a whole.
We want to thank Daniel Olsén for his time. Be sure to check out the other Nintendo Life VGM Fest articles in our season of interviews and music-centric features.
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