Description
The name of the game I created in my head is named Memory Hole, a story-focused adventure/puzzle game set in the 90s. The story follows a closeted queer woman named Selena who, after an argument with her lesbian situationship at a summer college party, has to travel into The Hole. A purgatory-like filled with lost and forgotten souls that is cast in eternal night, she must find her lover before it is too late. Since the game is set in the 90s and I wanted a gritty, alternative feel to it I made sure each track sounded like night and darkness in some way, mixing elements of alternative rock, shoegaze, trip hop and ambient music. Each track was composed in FL Studio but I still tried to capture the sound of grungy, raw music.

The game would have heavy themes like that of grief, loss, loneliness, hopelessness, loss of individualism and memories (specifically nostalgia). There are five tracks I composed, each track representing one stage of the five stages of grief and also being played in a key point in the story.

Track one is named Oblīvīscī, which is representing denial. This song plays early into the game before Selena's partner's disappearance. It plays during an important conversation at the party where Selena is posed the question of what her and the other person are relationship wise. This song represents denial because of Selena's unwillingness to fully accept who she is, instead clinging onto lies she tells herself and ultimately hurting the person she cares about. The track was meant to feel nostalgic but somber, as although they are at a fun event with friends they enjoy, there is a moment in the chaos where things are unsure and scary.

The next song is representing anger, known as No Hopers. After the party and the disappearance of the person she loves, Selena ventures into The Hole after finding out no one remembers her lover except for her. In the dreary city she stumbles into the bar named No Hopers. This song represents anger because it captures the vibe of the bar perfectly, a dingy and dark place filled with simmering anger and hopelessness from the residents. I wanted something aggressive but plodding, so I took inspiration from doom metal bands like Electric Wizard and King Woman. I think it represents the rage that these people are feeling condensed into this bar, with no hope of unleashing that rage anywhere else, hence the name of the establishment. In-game the song would be played by a band named the Night Witches, an all-female group that went missing under mysterious circumstances.

Track 3 is a more abstract representation of the stage of bargaining with the song A Hard Bargain. This song would play when Selena enters the office of the Overseer, a being that watches over all the lost souls of The Hole. The office would be in a corporate, almost brutalist styled building that is cold and unfeeling. I wanted to capture that and the tenseness of the situation as well through the music, as Selena bargains to bring her lover back to the normal world. I was inspired by artists like Portishead, Massive Attack, DJ Shadow and Bjork for this trip hop vibe, except more experimental and electronic.

The fourth piece is named The Place That Consumes, representing the stage of depression. As a final step to her escaping with her, Selena must confront the being in the abyss at the center of the city. This being represents the collective culmination of the failed dreams and dead hopes of humanity, now fully formed at the bottom of a hole. This song strayed the most away from my genres, but I felt it was necessary to capture the feeling I wanted to portray in it. In-game, I'd imagine the last part of the song where things become corrupted and chaotic would play once a certain threshold of the dialogue is hit, as the conversation would reach its climatic finish.

Finally, the last song representing acceptance is called Don't Look Back. As Selena drives away from the city, possibly with or without her lover, she has left the past and her trauma behind as she looks to move on and embrace who she truly is. This serves as the climax and the end point of the game, while also being the ending of the OST.

Message from the artist
Second OST Jam I have done, I feel like (hopefully) with the amount of time between doing this I've improved and I did a lot of things I haven't tried before. I'm really proud with the work I've done and I personally feel like I've opened up a new world artistically with myself, so either way I'm coming out of this jam very happy.

Theme

One Summer Night

Picture theme

How does it fit the theme?
One Summer Night was the inspiration for the initial event that starts off the story for this OST and also for the city being cast in eternal night. Both the prompt and the image I wanted to capture musically, making the OST feel nostalgic and gritty and like a hot summer's night either out and about or in your room.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLvxHtl3V_W7-Z4sfFpcyZMuIW4SswrYh

Number of tracks
5

Genre

Soundtrack use permission