Video game composer legend Nobuo Uematsu has stepped outside of video games throughout his career, and his upcoming original work Merregnon: Heart of Ice is the latest example. The album is an orchestral storybook, narrated by Alicia Vikander, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. It tells the story of four characters on a quest, and the surface-level parallels to Final Fantasy are a knowing nod to the past. Nobuo Uematsu and producer Thomas Böcker are long-term friends and have been trying to work together for years. Finally, Uematsu’s calendar had an opening, and the rest is history!
In the making of Merregnon: Heart of Ice, you’ll hear from Nobuo, Thomas, Alicia, and others whilst seeing recording sessions at Abbey Road and some absolutely gorgeous artwork. The lead single, ‘Frozen Tears‘, is delightfully rich in texture and sound. It effortlessly and elegantly shifts from bittersweet moments to sweeping surges and back again. ‘Frozen Tears’ sounds so quintessentially Uematsu, yet its orchestrations also bring the freshness and dynamism we hear from the live arrangement concerts.
‘Merregnon: Heart of Ice’ is out on 19th June on CD, vinyl, and digital. You can pre-order the album on Amazon. I don’t think Nobuo Uematsu will ever stop creating music, and that’s a true gift to music fans around the world.
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