I do love a good Chip Tune album – and sometimes its especially hard to make something cohesive if there’s not a game or concept to wrap themes around. Alex Lane’s “Titan” comes across as a 28 minute audiobook in chip tune form and its a wonderfully creative affair.

From the opening fanfares of “Chinon”, it’s like we are introduced to protagonists and heavy themes that then set off on their journey in “Titan” which has an amazing arpeggiator creating all the flowing rivers of bleeps that we love. There’s some clever effects with echoes and phasers in the background too which makes the audio feel wider than just the usual 8 bit chip set in use. The way how each track flows into each other is inspired too as one tracks end transitions into the next tracks beginning as the plodding stabs of “Iris” feel complex and pointed. It embodies a mech’s leg stances and the way the track plays with BPM changes is superb. It’s slowdown makes “Nova”‘s more fast paced battle cries all the more juicy. The track doesn’t stay full on dance track for long as it flicks between song sections, but it feels like a nadir moment in the story.

“Ganymede” kicks off the second half in a more industrial atmospheric tone before the spacious melodies of “Reinette” takes over. It’s only a two minute piece, but its absolutely gorgeous in how it builds itself up, layering melodies over itself. It feels like the melodies then take on a more dramatic form in “Antiphase” where fragments of the previous track and exploded into hyper drum and bass styled raves. The leaves us the big five minute epic track “Logic Bomb” which has a few different phases throughout and feels very much like your typical hero rises/final mission styled piece and “Ulriken”‘s slow burn closer feels like the end credits as the heroes walk away into the distance. The chords are not entirely happy though, so it feels like a “we’re off to chapter 2 after we’ve lost our of our gang” instead. It’s a lovely way to round off a great story.

Alex Lane’s “Titan” is a great example of what letting your mind tell a story to music can do for you. Lane’s craftsmanship in mixing things up is superb, the melodies are great and any chip tune fans should absolutely give this one a whirl.

Recommended Track : Titan

Filed under: 8-bit, chip tunes, chiptune, composer, music, review, VGM Tagged: Alex Lane, Spotlight