Like life, the best soundtracks are a many-splintered pathway - encompassing everything from the happy moments to the scary unknowns. Composer Max LL has clearly experienced the up, down and sideways whimsies of humanity, because he captures them so poignantly in the score to Spiritfarer. This is a daring album, not because it's recklessly brazen, but also, in fact, because it's just the opposite - it's not afraid of simplicity, finding absolute joy in single notes and sounds. With just a few plucks, an inspired curiosity can envelope you completely, and before you know it, it's swelled into something orchestral and grand. But for every lovely musical thought, foreboding ones await. Perhaps that's the real magic of Max LL's approach, because even when the storm rolls in, you welcome what it prompts - deep feelings, and also, the reliable cadence of ocean waves. Spiritfarer, both the game and it's music, is both vast and intimate - a true masterpiece worthy of wax.
