Junya Nakano – Unreleased Tracks 2000 Rise Review

What does Junya Nakano sound like?

Video game composer who can merge child-like wonder with tense curiosity.

The review of ‘Unreleased Tracks 2000 Rise’ by Junya Nakano

Earlier this year, video game music composer Junya Nakano released two albums of unreleased music. These tracks were created as standalone tracks and not tied to a specific game project, but around this time, Junya was composing for Dewprism and Final Fantasy X. What follows in ‘Rise’ is a curious look beyond the curtain at inspiration tracks, cutting room floor pieces, and alternative tracks that could fit the gaming universes being created at the same time.

The ‘Rise’ collection opens with ‘Something Approaches’. ‘Bouncing Brightly’ is a jaunty, airy, and playful piano-led piece that is backed up by icy synths that personify a lot of the softer location tracks of Final Fantasy X. The track reminds me a little of Thunder Plains, but with the playful clumsiness of Final Fantasy IX. It is an absolute gem that I’m surprised hasn’t made the light of day until now. A lot of Dew Prism’s soundtrack has a glassy tone to it, so ‘Dream Injection’ feels just at home there as it would in the Final Fantasy X world. It uses deep bass percussion and breezy, summer keyboard pads to have a boomy sway to it. The twinkling, crystalline, dewy main synth is a little too clinky and pitchy for my ears, but it sells the dreamy world theme well.

Another element of Dew Prism’s soundtrack is its electronic beats, and that’s where ‘With All My Might’ comes in. The percussion is electronic and brings a swaggering tick-tock to the piece. The intimate piano and glassy synths keep things cosy and upbeat, even when there’s a stream of determination running through it. ‘Conversations with the Wind’ is a bubbling mix of pearly arpeggios and a quirky synth twist on a lute. Fans of Yasunori Mitsuda’s music will lap this track up as it blends the acoustic with the ethereal. Junya also made this into a complete track, which makes it stand out from the usual looped game music.

For a complete change of pace, ‘Harbour Festival’ is a short one-minute chamber string marching fanfare. That leads nicely into the cymbal and jangly shaker-heavy ‘Confrontation’. Instead of making a battle track that throws every instrument at it, Junya Nakano focuses on a percussive roll from hand percussion. Over the top is a layer of thick atmospheric synth keyboard and brass, but a big melody never materialises. It reminds me a little of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles due to the instrumentation. Tuned percussion stages centre stage for the curious ‘Ritual Pressure’. Again, Nakano focuses on smaller motifs of rolling tuned percussion and cymbals, with small synth interludes to cool the track down. The clay udu pot and some pizzicato strings form the spine for the playful and light finale of ‘Gather & Laugh’. This personifies the joy and childlike nature that the Dew Prism soundtrack ushered in with its character and location themes.

All nine of these tracks could easily have made their way into either Dew Prism or Final Fantasy X, and they’d have felt in place. Junya Nakano’s cutting room floor demos are every bit as enticing and fun as the tracks that have been released. I think it shows me that songs packed full of character may not fit the exact setting a video game needs right now, but that they can live on without the video game backdrop and context if the composition is strong enough. Junya Nakano’s offcuts certainly can, and I’ll be reviewing the second volume called ‘Dive’ next week.

(Also, yes, Junya Nakano uses a Wii Mii as his avatar online!)

Recommended track: Bouncing Brightly

---

Support Higher Plain Music

Higher Plain Music is part of the Higher Plain Network – a one-man indie media project. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. In return, you’ll receive additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and free downloads. You can also donate using PayPal. Sharing the website helps too or using the affiliate buy now links on reviews. I receive a few pence per Amazon sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. I’d love to make this a full-time media network and your support can make that happen. Thank you.