Sometimes you stumble across a small but perfectly packaged collection of music that wraps itself around a thread or emotion and pulls you in. That is exactly what happened to me when enjoying the soundtrack to the new FMV story-rich game Telling Lies. Nainita Desai in six tracks creates a beautiful orchestral representation of the phrase ‘bending the truth’.
At just 25 minutes and six tracks, Telling Lies is a short soundtrack but each piece, whilst melodically different, follows a familiar feeling. Nainita takes each theme and through key changes, bending notes and giving the strings a tiny quiver, introduces an element of unease. The melodies initially sound quite pretty and then in comes a string slope, or a high pitched quiver and the whole feel of the track changes. True to the nature of the game itself, not everything that is going on is what is being told and whilst the tracks paired with the gameplay do wonders, the tracks stand up by themselves too. ‘Control’ and in particular ‘Order’ relish in this style and the pizzicato strings also nod their head towards 70’s super sleuths like Columbo.
What Nainita Desai has created is an emotional music mirror. As the chord or melody shifts slightly, so does the tone and by interpretation so does the intent. It’s a clever oddity, lush in orchestration and tippy-toe sleuthing moments. Whilst its brevity may see it overlooked by some, this is a soundtrack that would be perfect for any murder mystery evening or Cluedo experience.
Recommended track: Order
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Nainita Desai - Telling Lies Soundtrack
